


Timeless

by metamorcy



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2013-05-25
Packaged: 2017-12-11 16:38:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 61,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/800852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metamorcy/pseuds/metamorcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU, When Reborn has to go babysit a little child, he gets more than he bargains for and as the years pass, he's not seeing that little kid as a kid any more but as something else, perhaps more than he had ever wished for. R27 RebornxTsuna, major fluffiness on many chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Year One

"Alright, I just need you to look over my youngest son while Nana and I head out."

Tsuna blinked his large honey-colored eyes, peeking around the corner of a wall to see his father and a stranger that was standing next to each other, both talking to one another. His chubby little fingers clutched the wall he was behind, his cheeks all puffed out from the extra baby fat he still had. He looked over the person, who was shorter than his father, from a distance and tilted his head. The stranger was, however, much taller than Tsuna, and he probably only reached up to the person's thighs. The individual, only appearing in his teens, had spiky black hair that stuck up defiantly, much like Tsuna's untamable locks but upward and not everywhere, and had dark eyes.

"So I just to watch Tsunayoshi until you come back?" The stranger sighed.

"Yep! He's my adorable little son so be good to him." Iemitsu glanced around the room suddenly and then spotted the small puffy ball of brown. "Ah! There he is! Tsuna, meet your babysitter."

Tsuna didn't budge and instead ducked behind the wall, reacting with a loud squeak. Iemitsu made a cooing sound from the back of his throat and followed along, knowing that Tsuna wouldn't run too far. He reached around the corner, spotting his kid just behind, and took Tsuna's hand with ease. The child squeaked louder but didn't resist as he was pulled out into the open for the stranger to see. He ducked behind his father's legs in fear.

"Aw…Come on, Tsuna. Don't be shy. This is Reborn, he'll be watching you for the night. He won't hurt you, I promise." Iemitsu reached down to pat Tsuna's head to help comfort him.

Reborn sighed and kneeled down, smiling, though those that knew him (Iemitsu included) knew it was a fake. "Hey, there. I'm Reborn. You?"

As if sensing something, Tsuna ducked away again, and no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get out of his father's strong grip, preventing him escaping and hiding. His eyes got wider in fear and for a moment, he looked like he was going to cry. The tiny child didn't want to be here.

"I believe he's scared of me…" Reborn would have made a 'tch' sound if he didn't hold it back in his throat. He didn't even want to be here. It was a Saturday night, he had better things to do than to watch a little kid that was eight years younger than him. But if Iemitsu asked, he had no choice. He owed the man a couple of things from the past.

"No, he's incredibly shy but he'll get used to you eventually, just give him some time." Iemitsu laughed, letting go of his son to head towards the door. Nana was already in the car, waiting him. "Alright, I'm going to go now. See you two later alright." He closed the door, leaving the two alone and in silence.

Reborn twisted to the shaking child, who stared at him with large teary eyes. "So…" Tsuna flinched at his voice, making Reborn twitch. "So, what do you want to do?"

Tsuna remained quiet and fondled with his fingers nervously.

The black-haired teen sighed again. This was getting nowhere. He looked around the room and then settled on the TV. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

The brunet blinked then nodded his head, just agreeing. He followed the older person and settled down on the couch but far away from the other. Reborn shook his head.

'This is getting ridiculous. He can't really be Iemitsu's child, can he?' The teen peered over some DVDs that had been laid out previously and then to a couple that had been scattered on top of the table. He shuffled through them, searching. There were a few good ones that he would normally watch but this was for Tsuna. What would the kid like to watch? His black eyes turned to the said boy, who was only five years old, barely in kindergarten. "Hey…"

Tsuna jumped, his honey-colored eyes wide.

Reborn ignored the reaction and lifted up a few DVDs. "Choose whatever you want to watch, anything is good with me."

Still the kid didn't move. Reborn was tempted to knock some sense into him but resisted. It wouldn't do him any good at the moment and would probably make things worse. He went through the stack again and picked up a random one. It was called 'Up!' and sighed, resigning himself to watch this. Placing it into the player, he turned on the TV and sat down to figure out the remote system.

Tsuna watched as the older teen pressed the buttons, trying to figure out how the thing worked, and blinked his overly large eyes. When he saw the dark eyebrows narrow, he decided to lean over. His cubby fingers reached out and pointed to a certain button on the remote from the side. Reborn looked up at that and followed the gaze to the button, pressing it. The screen flickered and the title menu appeared.

"Thanks." Reborn spoke, his eyes still looking at the kid in question.

Tsuna's lips twitched and then opened. "T-T-Tsun-na…"

The black-haired teen didn't hear the whisper and bended over. "Huh?"

"T-Tsuna…m-my n-n-n-name…"

Reborn almost grinned, finally some progress. "And how old are you, Tsuna?"

"F-Five…" The child brought up his fingers to prove it. "Y-You?"

Reborn smiled, the boy was cute when he wasn't acting so afraid. "Thirteen."

"Thirteen?" Tsuna blinked. The fear was quickly subsiding with curiosity. "How high is that? I've only gone up to ten." He spread out his hand for the numbers, trying to count.

"Ah…Here, let me count for you." Reborn went closer and tapped the thumb on Tsuna's fingers, wiggling them at the number. "One," He then wiggled the forefinger, speaking the number that went with it, and went off to the next one. "Two, three, four, five," His hand jumped to the next chubby little one. "Six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. And then we go back home." His fingers went to the thumb at the beginning. "Eleven, twelve, and then thirteen."

Tsuna stared in amazement, wondering about the other numbers on his fingers.

Reborn smiled at the expression. "Then from there, it'll be fourteen, fifteen…" He continued to count until he reached twenty. The brunet stared at the new information. Right after, he tried to count the numbers himself but ended up mixing a few of them after he reached ten. Reborn continued to help out and patted Tsuna on the head the moment he managed to get them all right. "You did it… Congratulations."

Tsuna peered up at the older person and then let out a large smile. "Thanks."

Reborn blinked at it and couldn't help but return with one of his own though smaller in size. "Now, let's watch the movie okay?" The black-haired teen reached for the remote and pressed the play button. Tsuna nodded and turned to the TV, remaining where he was at, not inching away from the other any longer. He was no longer afraid of Reborn.

* * *

Reborn sighed, glancing down at the kid that had fallen asleep mid-movie. He was on his lap, using it as a pillow and was sleeping without a care in the world. Reborn ran a hand through his hair, not sure on what to do. The movie was still playing and the parents hadn't come home yet. Not only that, he didn't even know where Tsuna's room was at. He groaned in frustration.

Tsuna, unaware, nuzzled closer to the warmth, a soft smile on his face. The other, on the other hand, couldn't help but smile back. The boy was really too cute. Placing a hand into the soft caramel-colored hair, his fingers ran through the locks, liking the silky feeling that came with it.

Tsuna made a soft sound in content.

Reborn chuckled in amusement, momentarily looking at the TV for a second then went around the room with his eyes. He leaned to the side against the side of the couch and closed his eyes. This wasn't so bad.

He should come here more often.

* * *

Iemitsu opened the front door, whispering words into his wife's, Nana's, ear. He had a large grin on his face and closed the door, locking it. They looked around the area then noticed that the TV was still on.

Nana went to the coat rack to hang up her jacket while Iemitsu went towards the couch. He peered over then smiled at the site before him.

"Nana, darling, look!" He whispered and motioned his wife to come.

The woman followed and peered at what her husband was looking at. She instantly cooed. "Aw…Aren't they adorable together?

Reborn was fast asleep, his arms resting protectively on Tsuna, who was still using the other as a pillow. Iemitsu smiled and placed an arm around Nana.

"Don't they look good together?"

"Absolutely perfect."

"I hear wedding bells, Nana."

The woman smiled and nudged her husband at the shoulder. "Oh, dear, that's too soon. Tsuna still has thirteen years left until he's eighteen or is it sixteen? But…they do look good together. I think we've found our permanent babysitter when Giotto is away."

"Yes, I think we have."


	2. Year Two

"Giotto-nii!" Tsuna cried out loudly, running towards his big brother from the stairs. His feet shuffled along the steps and almost tripped at a few before picking himself back up to continue to his destination.

The little child was now six years old but over that passing year, he hadn't grown very much, remaining almost the same. His cuteness hadn't faded one bit and his eyes were still large and round with his cheeks all puffy. He looked absolutely adorable to any eye that gazed upon him.

Tackling the blond before him at the legs, he squeezed tightly and looked up with a large smile on his face. His older brother, surprised by the attack, managed to remain standing since the force hadn't been very strong in the first place and glanced down. All he needed to see were those large eyes before returning the smile with one of his own. Giotto, older than Tsuna by two years (making him eight), reached down to ruffle the caramel-colored locks affectionately.

"What is it, Tsuna?" Giotto chuckled, tilting his head at the adorable expression he was getting.

The child tightened his grip on the jeans his brother was wearing, looking absolutely excited. "Guess what, Giotto-nii? Guess what?"

The older brother chuckled again and decided to go along with Tsuna. "What is it? You know I can't guess very well."

"Reborn is coming today!" Tsuna beamed, delighted that the teenager was coming to visit, and then questioned his brother. "Are you going to stay this time, Giotto-nii, or leave?"

Giotto suddenly twitched and narrowed his eyes. His happy attitude from before was falling and fast and growled angrily. There was that name again. Ever since that babysit from last year, Reborn has been coming over multiple times after that, visiting his little brother each and every time. And over that year, Giotto, however, has never once seen the teenager probably because he was always out with his friends since they liked to drag him around. Strangely though, Reborn would still come over even if their parents were home and that left Giotto forming a bad feeling in his stomach, his protectiveness of Tsuna growing. Giotto nodded to himself. This time, he wasn't going anywhere (their parents aren't home at the moment) and bended over to gaze at his little brother. "I'm staying."

Tsuna gave a look of confusion, still gripping Giotto's jeans. "Really? Don't you usually have somewhere else to go?"

"It was canceled for today." The blond was lying through his teeth, he _does_ have somewhere else to go, but right now, he didn't _want_ to go. He needed to stay with his little brother and he could always apologize to his friends later for skipping out like this. Giotto tried to keep a straight face, hiding the thoughts that were running in his head, and spoke plainly as possible. "So when's Reborn coming over?"

"Soon!" Tsuna gave that large smile again and at that moment, the doorbell rang. Instantly, the little brunet perked his head up at the sound and cried out happily. "Ah! He's here." Pulling away from his brother, he ran straight for the front door, grasping the handle with his tiny hands. Tsuna unlocked it and opened the frame see Reborn standing there, dressed in causal clothes (yes, shocking) and leaning on one leg. "Reborn, you're here!"

"Hey." The teen kneeled down and patted Tsuna on the head, ruffling up the caramel-colored strands messily. A squeak came from the child, pouting that his hair was getting messed up, now beginning to look like some puffed up fur ball. Reborn just chuckled at the reaction, a small hint of smile appearing on his lips though it disappeared right after, and then let out a startled yet muffled cry as Tsuna tackled him at his chest. "Ouf!"

Two small arms wrapped around his waist, gripping tightly, not willing to let go anytime soon. Tsuna buried his face into the older boy's chest gleefully. "Reborn, you're here!"

The black-haired teen tried to contain a laugh that made its way up his throat but failed slightly as some slipped through, falling onto his ass, and rubbed Tsuna's back tenderly to try and nudge him off but the child didn't let go. He gave a hard push. "Tsuna… Come on, I need to get up." Slowly, Reborn managed to pry himself away and stood up, dusting and straightening his clothes, however, Tsuna just attached himself to his legs.

Using a little of force, he pulled their bodies inside the house and away from the heat of the outside world. Tsuna just smiled happily, not caring that he was making things harder for Reborn. As the teenager closed the door behind him, he noticed that there was one more presence in the room and rotated towards it.

His eyes caught sight of an older looking Tsuna with spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes, glaring directly at him, a scowl on the person's lips. Reborn blinked at the fierce stare he was getting but didn't let it affect him, remaining as normal as possible. "Who's this, Tsuna?"

Tsuna grinned, continuing to stand right next to Reborn, and pointed towards his brother while his other hand was gripping the long legs beside him. "That's Giotto-nii! He's staying over today!"

"Oh?" Reborn raised an eyebrow at that, finding it suspicious.

Giotto just huffed and folded his arms, snapping his head away from the duo. "They just canceled today. Hope you don't mind me joining you two." Though his head was turned away, he was glaring with a venomous aura surrounding him. Giotto didn't like this person at all.

The black-haired teen noticed the obvious atmosphere on the blond but remained uncaring. And as he spoke, he placed an arm on Tsuna's shoulder. "Well I guess you already know who I am from Tsuna but I'll introduce myself anyway. My name is Reborn."

"Oh, I know. I know all about you. Tsuna doesn't shut up about you." Giotto's fingers were turning white in frustration as they dug into the palm of his hand and even more as he watched Tsuna continue to hug the other person at his legs. He didn't like that at all. In rage, he reached over and yanked Tsuna away, keeping his brother close to his side with a firm grip.

The poor brunet, meanwhile, didn't seem to understand what was going on and just tilted his head cutely with a finger on his lips in confusion. He looked between the two, wondering what was happening.

A few seconds passed before Reborn sighed and scratched the back of his head, running his hand through his spiky hair. 'This is going to be tough… Who knew Tsuna's older brother would be _this_ protective?' Stepping to the side to get some distance between himself and the overprotective brother, he peered down at Tsuna and leaned over with his hands on his knees so he could be at eyelevel with the child. He continued to try and act as if nothing was wrong, that there wasn't someone wishing and perhaps plotting for his death right next to him. "Well then, what would you like to do for today, Tsuna? We also need to include Giotto in as well. Something we can all do together."

The brunet placed a finger on his lips again, scrunching up his face, deep in thought. "Um…" He pouted when he couldn't think of an answer and turned to his older brother. "I'm not really sure. What do you think, Giotto-nii?"

The blond blinked in response and then sighed, glancing over to the television that was on the other side of the room. "How about video games? You did say before that you wanted to play that new game with me. Reborn can play too or, well, take turns between the two controllers."

"That's a good idea!" Tsuna's face brightened up at the proposal and after that, turned back to Reborn. "Reborn, you better play too, okay!"

The eldest of the group nodded. "Sure, whatever you say."

Once more, Giotto started glaring with the air around him darkening again, but Tsuna didn't notice it. No, he was too busy running towards the TV to hook everything up.

"Look," Reborn grumbled, his soft smile that he wore only for Tsuna changed into a dark sneer. One that scared Giotto but refused to show the effect it had on him (though he did shiver at the sensation it brought). The blond clenched his fingers together, bringing pain to keep himself from freaking out. Tsuna, on the other hand, was no longer within their range and couldn't see or hear anything that was going on. Folding his arms and allowing his darker personality slip through, Reborn literally stared down the younger boy. "I'm not sure what I've done to offend you but you can believe me when I say that I'm not going to hurt or steal your little brother away."

Giotto snorted in disbelief. "You're just saying that. I'm not stupid to fall for something like that." He tried to give his own death glare but it wasn't even close to Reborn's, whose was deadly enough to send anyone running at a moment's notice.

"Perhaps so…but I like Tsuna. He's a…really good kid." Reborn's face turned into a blank, masking himself, when the brunet looked over, completely shifting his look. But when he spoke, his voice was still the same, still filled with venom. "I don't want anything bad to happen to him and I won't hesitate in killing anyone that dares do so. I won't allow anything to hurt him." Ending their conversation right there, Reborn made one final glare before walking towards Tsuna, patting the small brunet on the head tenderly.

To Giotto's point of view, Reborn looked like he had done a personality change, almost a complete 180 from before, when he started chatting with Tsuna. The blond hummed to himself from behind, deep in thought, trying to suppress the shivers that were running over his entire body. He stared at the other's back and then finally sighed. He had been defeated in that one moment. Grumbling, Giotto went forward and flopped onto the ground, folding his legs, and took one of the controllers into his hand while holding out the other, waiting for either of the two to take it. He was already messing with the buttons to get the game started when Tsuna grabbed it.

Holding the other controller, the brunet peered up at Reborn, who had decided to sit on the couch while the other was on the ground below him. "Reborn, do you know how to play?"

The teen shook his head and leaned back into the couch. "No, I'm just going to watch for now. Maybe I'll be able to figure it out while I'm watching you."

"If you say so. Tell me if you want to play, okay?" Tsuna gave that same bright smile and turned back to the screen, hitting the buttons. For those few seconds as he tried to destroy the incoming enemy ships, he had forgotten all about the world around him and even Reborn, his mind concentrating solely on the game. At the end, Giotto obviously won, mostly from experience of having played the game before. Tsuna just grumbled, pouting when he got killed, and peered up at Reborn. An idea struck him as he did so and handed over the controller, basically shoving it into the other's hands. "Here, you try! Avenge me!" He made a short adorable giggle afterwards with a grin.

Reborn blinked at the expression and then chuckled, patting Tsuna on the head. "Well, if you say so." Honestly, the game's commands weren't that hard. It was actually quite simple though he could tell that Tsuna didn't know how to effectively dodge and destroy incoming targets at the same time or even that fast. Giotto huffed at this and pressed the button to start a new game with the two breezing through the game all the way to the end, the sounds from the television filling the room.

After a while, Reborn was victorious.

"Wow, Reborn, you won!" Tsuna cheered, clapping his hands together, applauding in happiness.

Even Giotto had to admit his defeat. "You won on the first try. That's pretty amazing for someone who's never played before."

"It's not that big of a deal." Reborn placed the controller onto his lap and peered down at Tsuna. "But everyone had fun, right, Tsuna?"

"Right!"

The black-haired teen tilted his head and gave a smirk. "Now, if I remember correctly and I must admit, I have a pretty good memory, there's some ice cream in the freezer."

Tsuna's face brightened instantly at that and jumped up from his spot to run into the kitchen, praising for his ice-cold treat. He almost tripped along the way but kept going, nothing able to stop him from getting his dessert. Reborn couldn't contain his laughter anymore at the antics Tsuna would pull, putting the controller down onto the ground, while Giotto shook his head, grinning.

From what the blond could tell, Reborn wasn't that bad of a person, perhaps a few attitude problems here and there, but other than that, he knew that Reborn wasn't going to hurt Tsuna at all. Call it a brother's intuition, a gut feeling. He stared at the other for a few more seconds before sighing in defeat. Smiling as his younger brother came running back carrying three small tubs of ice-cream, he pushed anything game related away to give room. Giotto remained on the ground at his exact stop while Reborn shifted a little on the couch, getting into a more comfortable position. Handing one tub to each person with a spoon, Tsuna flopped down onto the floor to open his own and instantly began scooping the cold goodness into his mouth, devouring it.

The other two followed suit afterwards.

Perhaps something good came out of today after all.


	3. Year Three

Reborn glanced around the street he was strolling down, his eyes drifting side to side. At the moment and he will never admit it, he was bored out of his mind. Chatter from his so called friends was coming from behind, all of them talking about the news or tidbits that have happened recently. He usually didn't mind listening to them since it did keep him up to date with the world around him but today, there wasn't much to hear about, he already knew everything even the little gossip and rumors that were floating around.

In the group, there are eight of them (including himself) in total, all in the same grade (they are in high school) except for two. Those two were actually younger by a year, a blond named Colonello and a purple-haired one with lots of piercings named Skull (both in middle school). Colonello, at the beginning, had really only came along for Lal, the second female of the group, looking up to her as a "sempai" (that's what he called her) since she was some sort of teacher or mentor to him. Reborn never bothered investigating those two's little relationship, he had decided early on that it wasn't worth the trouble. But later on in the months, Colonello ended up joining their little group and became someone that Reborn could compete and fight with. They always had a tendency to get into trouble with other students, well, Colonello did, Reborn usually got an announcement when someone wanted to challenge him. Still no one minded Colonello's presence and actually welcomed the energetic blond.

Skull, on the other hand, was an annoyance since all he did was complain and try and fail to show he was better than everyone else, mostly to Reborn, who took the time to bully and pick on him. He would follow them around and call everyone "sempai" (following Colonello's example) as if they were teaching him something but in the end, Skull was more of an errand boy, who followed all commands that was given to him. Not only that, the younger teen was easily frightened and was always running away from each and every fight. Many people thought that since he was in the group called the 'Arcobalenos' (that's what the girls nicknamed their group), well known for having the collection of the strongest and prettiest/handsomest people around, that he would be strong too, however, that was obviously not the case. But even though it became quite well known after a while that Skull was the weakest of them, it didn't matter much. People still wanted to pick a fight with him to prove that they were better.

Going back to the group, the other girl besides Lal was Luce, who had a flower mark under her left eye and the brightest smile. She was the kind of person that held the group together with her cheerful attitude and no one thought a bad thing about her. Not a single person, not even Reborn could ever hold a grudge against her.

Lal, on the other hand, was the complete opposite, she was usually violent. She would slap anyone crazy if they dared insult her, Colonello being the main target of them. But she was a good person and easily got embarrassed, sometimes over the smallest thing.

Viper, the next group member, was a mystery. He hardly went around without his cloak that covered his entire body and rarely spoke but he followed them nonetheless. He would just stand around, hidden from all eyes even though he stood out so obviously. And he was greedy, _very_ greedy, and he was always looking for ways to earn more money. Reborn was quite certain that the reason he still remained with them was solely for that purpose (they were a popular group for their looks after all).

Fon, the sixth one, was a calm person and rarely said anything insulting or cruel. He was the type of person that really knew how to calm person down and hardly got into fights with anyone but he wasn't a push over. Reborn knew that first hand when they had a little spar. Fon really knew how to kick and _hard_. Sometimes Reborn would unconsciously rub a spot where he had taken a hit when he's by himself. But back to Fon, he's a foreigner to Japan, a Chinese. He had traveled from China to broaden his studies but in the end, he ended up staying here since his family back home decided it would be good for him.

Ironically, the rest of the group was foreigners as well, mostly made up of Italians that had either traveled here or have been relocated due to family matters.

The final person was Verde. Honestly, Reborn didn't like him at all but tolerated him nonetheless. The green-haired teen was always working on something, mostly science projects, and was never interested with the group itself unless necessary. Strangely, he decided to show up today, probably because of Luce. The girl could get quite scary when she wanted to and to the point that even Reborn didn't dare defy her either.

As the black-haired teen glanced around the street he and his group were on, looking at the stores they passed by along the way, he somewhat separated himself from the others. His eyes would glance back every now and then to make sure they hadn't wandered too far away from him but he still kept a distance nonetheless. The street they were on is a small shopping area and everyone that walked around them had a shopping bag or two in their hands. A few of his friends were carrying one themselves but he wasn't. He never really liked shopping in groups, it was like he was telling others what he liked and disliked at every single purchase.

And with that, the chattering behind him continued on.

Bored once more, his eyes drifted away from his friends yet again and decided to gaze across the street to see where they were heading to next…

Before freezing to the spot…

Reborn blinked his eyes and then rubbed them to make sure he was seeing right and that it wasn't a delusion but the figure remained. 'No… It's not possible…'

He stared at the sight of a small body in the distance and he was absolutely certain that he could recognize that mop of brown hair _anywhere_.

"Tsuna…" Reborn whispered under his breath and examined the boy from across the street. What he saw made his heart clench. Tsuna was pale, his fingers were shaking, and he looked absolutely frightened with his head turning everywhere frantically. The teen blinked curiously and glanced around the area for either Nana or Iemitsu but none of them were in sight. Going back to the little child, a protective feeling started to swell up in Reborn's chest. 'Is he…lost?'

But when tears started welling up in Tsuna's eyes, the child completely frightened out of his mind, without knowing or even realizing, Reborn _ran_ from his group of friends. Instantly, he began shoving his way through the crowd that was waiting for the light to change and when he was sure that he would be seen by the child from the other side of the street, he called out.

" _Tsuna_!"

The people around him jumped at his yell even his friends were looking over in surprise, all staring at him strangely.

But Tsuna's face was the best and most important. When the brunet caught sight of him, relief instantly shined through those teary eyes and a smile broke out on those lips, his whole face lighting up like a Christmas tree. The tears that had been in the eyes went away and he took a step forward… _towards oncoming traffic_.

Reborn panicked.

"Don't move, Tsuna!" The teen called out in terror, afraid that the kid would be stupid enough to walk out into the rushing cars. He wasn't sure but he didn't want to take the risk. Tsuna instantaneously froze, blinking in shock and curiosity, and then nodded in reply. He remained rooted to his spot as demanded.

Afterwards, a sigh slipped from Reborn's lips and relaxed slightly now that he knew that Tsuna wouldn't do anything unintelligent. His eyes stared at the red no-crossing-sign, waiting for it to change and when it did, he ran all the way to the other side, wrapping his arms around Tsuna immediately, holding the boy dearly. But before he could calm down, he immediately pulled the child away from the street and the exchanging crowd before peering down at Tsuna, who was staring up with those large eyes that were sparkling in happiness.

Although, before he could get a chance to scold and demand where the boy had been and come from, he was beaten by a joyful sob from Tsuna.

"Reborn! Reborn!" Tsuna hugged the teen for dear life with his arms wrapped around the chest since Reborn was only kneeling down. "I'm so…so happy that you're here, Reborn!" He then began to bawl loudly, his face buried into the chest, and the teen just held him, his grip firm.

"What's happened, Tsuna? And where Nana and Iemitsu?" The black-haired teen questioned, staring into the large eyes, his fingers running through the soft caramel-colored hair to help calm the child down.

"I…I don't know…" Tsuna wailed. "I don't know!" He buried his face deeper into Reborn's chest and even with all that was going on, he was happy that someone had come to his rescue. He had been scared, so _so_ scared. He had only stopped to look at something in a window while he had been with his mom and when he turned back to see where she had went, Nana was already gone.

Reborn let a tiny smile peek out in response and patted the soft hair gently. "There, there, I'm here so that means that everything is alright now, right?"

Tsuna sniffed for a few seconds, his eyes all large and puffy. "R-Really?"

"Yep."

The brunet's face lighted up again and tackled Reborn again, hugging him closer.

Reborn, somewhat used to the affection he got continuously from the child over the years, didn't hesitate in returning the hold, he was actually enjoying it, but he had forgotten about one thing.

He wasn't alone.

" _Reborn_?"

The black-haired teenager snapped his head back to his group of friends that had followed behind him the entire time and were all staring at him strangely, some with curiosity shining in their eyes. Tsuna, when he looked up as well, made a loud squeak in fear at all eyes that were landing on him and clutched harder onto Reborn's clothes, hiding within the arms protectively. He had never once gotten over his shy side, reverting back into that old self of his just like the first time he had met Reborn but, this time, it wasn't nearly as bad. Over the years, Reborn had become some kind of protective figure for him and he always felt braver whenever he was nearby. Still the brunet paled at the sight of seven different-colored eyes looking straight at them and hid his face into Reborn's chest to tear his gaze away.

Luce was the first one to speak and kneeled down with a soft smile, noticing the fear on Tsuna's face. She was at head level with the two. "Who's this, Reborn?"

The black-haired teen sighed and reached up to pat Tsuna's head again, hoping that that would help calm the kid from panicking further. And it did. "This is Tsuna, I've been babysitting him for the past two years."

"Really? My! He's so adorable." The leader of the group cooed, reaching out to touch the smaller boy but Tsuna made another high-pitched squeak in fright, trying to back away, but Reborn's grip kept him from doing so.

This left the teen no choice but to wave Luce's hand away while everyone else watched the trio in confusion, each one wondering on what was going on. "Sorry, he has a fear of people. It took him a while to even get used to me." Pulling Tsuna away from his body, he stood up and looked down with soft eyes that could only be viewed by the child. "Hey, Tsuna…"

The brunet's eyes glanced up shakily, it was obvious that he was still frightened by all the strangers around him. "Y-Yes?"

"Listen, Tsuna, these are my closest friends. I promise they won't hurt you at all. I won't let them, okay." Reborn gave a glare at a few certain people before turning his attention back. "So can you come out and try saying hello to them?"

Tsuna blinked, his face scrunching up together cutely as he went deep into thought before turning to the group and then, after a few moments, nodded. This allowed Reborn to shift away a little bit but the brunet still clutched to the pants for protection. Half of the child's body was hidden behind the leg but even Reborn knew that this was process from the first time they met. A small squeak came from Tsuna as he spoke. "H-He-Hello…"

"Aww… He's so cute!" Luce cooed, clapping her hands together. She leaned forward since she was already kneeling down and smiled warmly. "I'm Luce, a friend of Reborn's."

Fon came next, offering a friendly smile himself, and bended over. He had his hands on his knees, holding him up. "And I'm Fon, it's a pleasure."

Tsuna blinked, his face turning red, either in embarrassment or something else no one was sure, but he remained where he was at, his eyes watching. Reborn almost smiled at that, remembering once more of the time when they first met.

However, that fluffiness ended when Colonello came down, all the blond had to do was grin and hold out a hand. Instantly, Tsuna jumped in fright and went back to hiding, afraid to look. He buried himself back into Reborn's legs, shaking uncontrollably. Reborn reached down to put a comforting hand, patting the soft locks, hoping that that would help calm the child again.

"Colonello, you idiot! You scared him!" Lal scolded, whacking the younger student on the head. This made the brunet pull back even further.

"Lal, I believe that you're scaring him too." Verde grumbled from the back, looking over the kid through his glasses. The blue-haired female just growled at that comment but didn't do anything else knowing that it was true.

As Reborn watched the scene, he just shook his head at his friends' antics and searched for his phone that was in his right pocket along with his wallet, digging the device out. He had to let Tsuna's parents know that the boy was in safe hands. They were most likely worried by now and, if he didn't know any better, were panicking too. That he was certain. Dialing the familiar number by heart, he placed the device to his ear, listening to the dial tone as it rang.

His friends around him continued to try and talk to Tsuna, who would come out slightly for Fon and Luce only, the rest seemed to scare him away. This only made the others angry and in which made matters worse. After shooing the others away, demanding them to be quiet, Fon and Luce managed to convince Tsuna to move more of himself out of hiding and were able to get the chance to shake hands with the small boy, whose other hand still refused to leave Reborn's pants. The black-haired teen watched with interest, half-listening to the phone when it clicked. A voice, however, made him snap out of his daze.

"Reborn! Oh my goodness, you must help me! Tsuna! Tsuna has-!"

Reborn could just hear the panic in the other's voice. It was Nana and by the sounds of it, she was alone…well not exactly, he could hear the sounds of people in the background meaning that she was in a market place. But she was without Iemitsu since he could be heard miles away with that voice of his. Reborn took a deep breath and interrupted the woman. "Mrs. Sawada, please calm down. I have Tsuna with me."

There was a pause.

"W-What?"

Reborn continued. "I was walking around with my friends when I saw him. I have him with me right now and have apparently attached himself to my legs. He's perfectly fine, Mrs. Sawada. He doesn't seem harmed in any way."

A sigh came from the other side in relief. "Oh thank goodness!" Nana sounded so happy, the multiple voices in the background were getting louder now that she was no longer panicking and screaming her head off. There was a rustling sound too, something like plastic that would be heard clearly through the phone. "I was so worried. I thought I died for a moment when I realized he wasn't behind me anymore. I'm so glad you were around." She made a small laugh. "You must really be drawn to him, huh."

"What?" Reborn blinked, his fingers gripping the phone harder. 'What did she mean by that…?'

"Well since he's with you, you wouldn't mind watching over him for the time being and take him home afterwards, would you? I still need to finish shopping for groceries. Ah, and you can come over and eat with us today, I'll make sure to make something wonderful tonight. Oh! Maybe a feast! That sounds great, right? Maybe you can invite those friends of yours too, the more the merrier! Oh, this will be so much fun, I can't wait to start cooking!"

"!" The teen pulled the phone away to stare at it in shock. He couldn't believe this woman, she had to be the strangest person he has ever met. His eyes then glanced down at Tsuna…no, make that two… No wonder they were related.

"Mamma." She suddenly giggled, earning a surprised expression from Reborn. "You can call me that instead. Mrs makes me sound so old and well, you're family now, right. Well then, I better get going and get ready for your return. Bye!"

Before Reborn could get another word in, the phone was cut off, leaving Reborn to stare at it once more in shock and confusion. Like he thought before, what a strange woman, just like her son and perhaps…no, defiantly her husband as well… Reborn rubbed the back of his head and glanced down to Tsuna, who was staring right back.

"Looks like you're stuck with me for the day." He placed his phone back into its original place. "And I'll bring you home later for dinner. Seems like your mom is currently going wild with that cooking of hers."

Tsuna smiled at that, his face brightening all over again, and gave a hug.

"Aww…" Luce cooed. "Tsuna must really be precious to Reborn if he doesn't mind at all." She gave a long look at the black-haired teen before smiling. "You both look perfect together. So cute!"

"Yeah, Reborn, his image just seems to _match_ yours." Colonello chuckled, getting a glare from the other. "The top person in school has a little child clinging to him. How amusing." He was soon rewarded with a slap across the face from Lal, who was scowling at the blond.

Tempted to hit the blond himself, Reborn just twitched and instead tightened his fingers into a fist. "Damn you."

Tsuna, on the other hand, watched with a smile on his face. He was so happy at the moment, nothing could destroy that. Being with Reborn has always made him like that even with all these strangers around him. He felt so different like he could be braver, stronger, and he was really glad for the support he always got from the teen. Tsuna's smile grew larger and laughed when he saw Reborn and Colonello arguing with each other from below. His eyes observed the group, well, some of them since a couple had to step in to stop the two while a couple just remained behind to watch. Eventually, he ended up getting detached from Reborn and ended up into Luce's hold, not that he minded. The brunet just watched from the side, grinning and cheering Reborn on.

Honestly, he wished Reborn and himself could stay together like this forever.


	4. Year Four

Reborn hated this day.

This cursed day that came year after year.

It didn't matter how many times he tried to stop it, it was impossible. It was a day that came regardless of his wishes. It was unstoppable.

And what day was it that tormented Reborn so?

His birthday.

October thirteen.

Usually for this day, he was alone and by himself because he _refused_ to tell anyone about it even to all the girlfriends he had dated over the year. Not even his friends knew about this day either. He just kept quiet and allowed the cursed day to pass by like any other with his life continuing as it always has. And he was completely fine with that, it worked very well in his favor, but of course, he still hated the day. People that knew about it, which he still tried to figure out how certain people did, would send him gifts and whatnot (Who they were, Reborn dared not mention). And he hated it. He really did.

Most of the gifts were thrown out as trash and were quite useless, doing nothing more but collecting dust in his closet if he had decided to keep it. A couple of times, he got money and though it was tempting to keep it, he would return it back to the sender. After a while, he stopped opening the presents all together and just sent them back unopened, not bothering with a single one. However, he did send a bill out to each person demanding them to pay him back for the return fees (it got costly whenever there were so many).

However, this year, he wasn't going to get away with being alone.

Oh no, no, no…

By someway and how, Iemitsu (that godforsaken bastard) had found out about his birthday and demanded a party to celebrate the day, which, of course, got spread around the town like wildfire. Invitations didn't even _need_ to be sent out before people started saying ( _demanding_ ) that they were coming and would bear gifts for the birthday boy. His friends were apparently coming as well and he knew for a fact that they too would bring gifts like everyone else (that should be obvious).

Reborn also knew that Nana was cooking up a storm for today's party, if the numerous smells from the kitchen didn't make it any more noticeable. He could tell just by looking at her that she was having a blast with this whole thing. And from his spot, he could see stacks of plates being piled up all around, all bearing different kinds of food. They were all delicious, he knew that for a fact (Nana loved to feed him whenever he showed up), but for today, they looked more like torture to him. And he didn't like that, not at all.

Anyway, the teen hated his birthday and everything about it (except for the getting a year older part, he was completely fine with that, everything else could go to hell in his opinion). What was worse was that all his old girlfriends (the ones he had broken up with but don't believe that he did no matter how many times he has told them) were coming too, _every_ single one of them (at the moment, he's single). And with that added into the mess, this whole birthday party was going to be a terrible ordeal.

He decided that he hated Iemitsu even more now than before.

Reborn wondered if he could get away with stabbing the man while he's drunk…

After a few moments, the teen decided that it wasn't worth the trouble, no matter how satisfying it might feel afterwards.

So instead, he decided that he would torture the man in a much _better_ way, one that would leave him miserable for a while. Reborn grinned at that and it didn't take long for him to start the preparations and put them into action.

(What were those preparations?

Reborn just placed a finger to his lips. "Shhh…")

However, even with all that, he couldn't stop the party from coming.

Reborn, at the start of the party, settled himself onto the stairs, watching the area around him in horror (though he kept his poker face on). All the preparations were complete with the food and drinks all out on tables, lined up neatly and carefully. The party itself wasn't being held at Reborn's apartment, no, it was at the Sawada's since his was far too small to hold such a large number of people, which were a lot. He had seen the ridiculously long list of names but he was certain, _very certain_ , that many were going to show up uninvited.

Reborn growled to himself, throwing glares at anyone that came near him. This also wasn't how he wanted to spend his Friday…

As the party began to pick up, more people were filing in, each one holding something and would stack it against a wall with the others. A few (mainly his ex-girlfriends that were basically painted in makeup) would come forward to try and make him open theirs on the spot but he sent each and every one of them away with a glare, making it darker when a couple wouldn't listen. He was thrown a few disapproving glances from a couple of adults but he ignored them. It wasn't as if he cared. Eventually, everyone got scared of his fury and slowly wondered away, frightened of the birthday boy.

Even his close friends were putting some distance from him.

He smirked evilly, making a couple of people shiver at the sight. This was exactly how he wanted it to be.

Nana was currently running in and out of the kitchen, bringing out more food to replace the ones that were getting devoured by the crowd (there seemed to be more people around that area than anywhere else). Iemitsu, on the other hand, was sitting at a corner with some other men that were about his age, all drinking and laughing at something that had been spoken. There were a couple of empty bottles of alcohol all around them and they seemed to be making the most noise in the entire house (even over the music). Reborn was tempted to hit the man. How could they be doing that at a party that was meant for him? He went back to plotting Iemitsu's death and destruction.

Giotto, meanwhile, was nowhere in sight but he had seen the blond (not that it was hard to miss that bright-colored hair) in the crowd before getting swallowed into it. After that, he was nowhere to be found though Reborn was certain that Giotto had escaped this entire thing. Lucky bastard. As Reborn mentally cursed the blond, he couldn't help but reflect over their interactions. Though their relationship (Giotto and him) has gotten better over the years, enough that they could talk without glaring, they still couldn't help but say hidden cunning remarks within their dialogue at each other. It had started as a way to get back at each other without anyone knowing, however, that changed over time. It was instead becoming a game between them, one that was kept secret from Tsuna, of course. A game that consisted on whoever could come up with the best insult whenever they met.

The black-haired teen sighed as he saw a bunch of his ex-girlfriends gathering up in one corner, all glancing at him. That definitely wasn't good.

As everyone wandered around him (many of which have given up on trying to strike a conversation with him), the large pile of presents that was against the wall was starting to overflow and a couple would topple over, tumbling to the ground. Many had to be moved to a different location to help prevent them from getting trampled by people that kept coming in. Music was blaring loudly in his ears but Reborn remained where he was at. The stairs was probably the only safe place in the entire house at the moment since no one was allowed to go upstairs. Nana and Iemitsu had taken the time to block the area with a piece of wood which also gave him something to lean against. Luckily for him, the stairs were somewhat isolated, placing him away from most of the crowd which he was glad for.

'How'd that man find out about this date anyway…?' Reborn thought to himself again, his eyes drifting from person to person. More of them were coming through the front door and the entire house was starting to get overcrowded. Many had to go to the front yard, standing in the grass. No one went to the back since they all wanted to get as close as possible to the only door that was open (Nana kept the back one closed shut since she didn't want any bugs to come flying in while she was cooking). Reborn growled to himself. 'Dammit, I need to find a way to get out of here…'

Due to being so deep in thought, he didn't notice a person coming up to him until a soft tug came at his sleeve. He was slightly startled by it, not realizing how deep in thought he actually was. Instantly thinking that it was one of partiers, Reborn sneered and snapped to the bastard that would dare disturb him. "What the hell do you-"

His words froze in his mouth and stared at the little brunet before him. Tsuna's eyes were wide and fearful and he looked like he was going to cry at any moment. He was shaking uncontrollably and had shrunk at the yell. Taking a step back, the brunet began making sniffing sounds and if Reborn hadn't been too concerned over the child, he would have noticed that the hair seemed to have deflated.

Acting quickly, Reborn reached forward to place a comforting hand on Tsuna's shoulder and changed his expression from the scowl to a kind smile. He patted a fleshy cheek gently and spoke in a soft tone. "Sorry, Tsuna. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." He ran his other hand hand through his hair, trying to look normal even though there were some people that were starting to stare at them. "It's just that I kept getting pestered by so many people all day long so I accidently thought that you were one of them. Sorry again. Can you forgive me?"

Tsuna blinked his eyes, pushing back those tears that had been forming and then shook his head. "I-Its okay. I f-forgive you."

The teen sighed in relief, glad that this hadn't become a problem. It was right after that that he noticed that there was something in Tsuna's hands. Blinking at the sight, he took a closer look. It was a large box, wrapped in orange-colored paper with a single white ribbon that went around it. The package itself was a little too big for Tsuna to carry in one hand and seemed to be struggling to hold it up because of its size. But it was obvious that it was meant for him even though there was no name tag on it. It was his birthday, after all, but he had to ask nonetheless. "And what's this?"

Slowly, the brunet lifted the box up, holding it out to Reborn. He was biting his bottom lip and stared down at his feet, shifting them to pull his attention away. Tsuna looked all nervous and scared again and not only that, there were more stares in their direction. People were wondering if the teen was really going to take the present. "Um…" Tsuna whispered, it was a little hard to hear over the music but Reborn could just fine. "This is for you, Reborn. I…um…I hope you like it."

The black-haired teen raised an eyebrow and unhurriedly reached out to take the box out of the hands before shaking it lightly. Hearing something being tossed around inside but unable to make it out, he gave a slight smirk as he glanced to the other. "Can I have a clue on what's inside?"

Tsuna instantly shook his head, shaking his caramel-colored hair, and gave a pout. "I can't tell you that. If I did then it wouldn't be a surprise." He gave a bright smile, looking extremely happy that Reborn was willing to take his present. He had been so scared since the teen had been shooing everyone off and giving them glares. For a moment, Tsuna had actually wanted to put his into the pile with the others but decided against it for some odd reason. He twitched his fingers, putting his forefingers together and hunch downward. "But um… Well, it's a little weird I think but I thought it would suit you. Mom and Dad didn't like it at all and wouldn't allow me to get it but I did. I thought it was perfect for you. So I… So I hope you like it."

The two were well aware of the stares they were getting, to the point that it was uncomfortable. All the talking that had been going around had stopped to watch.

"Is that so…" Reborn peered at the box a little longer before sighing. "Okay, you win, you've caught my interest. I want to know what it is." The teen huffed, glancing around the room. He knew quite well that he couldn't open it here. It would immediately start a chain reaction of everyone else wanting to get theirs open next and that was something he'd very much like to avoid at all costs. He could just imagine the horror that would happen. And he knew very well that it had taken a lot of guts on Tsuna's part to actually come up to him. The brunet's fear of people hadn't really changed very much over the year, though, it had dulled a little once Tsuna had gotten used to Reborn's friends. Still Tsuna wasn't very comfortable about this (Reborn was actually certain that the brunet would be hiding upstairs, far away, for the whole night).

Quickly thinking, Reborn dragged Tsuna up the stairs, moving the board back behind him to prevent anyone from following, and went towards the child's room. He closed the door and locked it just in case since he knew that there might be a few idiots that would try and follow (his ex-girlfriends for example). Tsuna was right next to Reborn, watching curiously, blinking those overly large eyes in question. Chuckling at the sight, the teen wandered over to the bed with the present in hand and settled down on top of the sheets. Patting the spot next to him, he motioned that he wanted Tsuna next to him, which the child followed and crawled onto his bed to sit.

"Alright, now to open it…" Mumbling to himself, Reborn stared at the present a little longer before untying the ribbon. Not sure on where to put it, he decided to tie it around Tsuna's right hand as a bow. He chuckled at the expression he got from the brunet, who waved his hand slightly in surprise. Reborn quickly went back to the box and tore through the paper, pulling everything off, leaving a bare brown box alone. Carefully opening the cover, he reached inside to grab whatever item that was there and pulled it out.

His eyes stared at the object.

It was a hat.

No, a fedora that was colored black with a yellow ribbon wrapped around it.

Reborn blinked at it, tilting it around to get a better look.

"Put it on, Reborn. If you… If you don't…l-like it, Mom and Dad said that they can take it back…" Tsuna swung his feet, looking a little sad yet hopeful at the same time.

Reborn didn't listen to the whole sentence and automatically placed it onto his head. Getting up, he went straight to a large mirror that was hanging in Tsuna's room and straightened the fedora. He grinned at his reflection. "Hey, I look pretty good with this." Pulling one end of the fedora downward to the side, he noticed that it added more character to him and it just so happened that he was wearing a black jacket and pants with a plain white t-shirt underneath. The fedora matched perfectly. Not only that, he liked the way the hat would shade his eyes, making him look stylish (and _dangerous_ ). Reborn rotated back to Tsuna with a soft smile and went closer, speaking in a kind tone. "I love it. Thank you." He wrapped his arms around the child, holding him closely. Tsuna returned it with a proud grin.

As Reborn held him, he rubbed the caramel-colored hair playfully, earning a pout from the brunet. He laughed at the expression, rubbing harder.

"S-So, it's okay, right?" Tsuna peered up as he buried his body into Reborn's.

"Okay? It's perfect. This is the best present out of all of them. Not only that but it's also from you."

This made Tsuna tilt his head in confusion. "Huh? But you haven't even opened the ones downstairs yet? And there are a lot of them, I saw. It was really amazing to see those huge piles!"

Reborn chuckled, pulling back slightly. "I don't have to open the others to know. I've already declared that yours is the best so it is. Nothing else will ever come close to it." He squished Tsuna back into his chest, tempted to fall back onto the bed, but decided against it. "I'll keep it with me always, alright? So thank you."

Tsuna smiled at that and buried deeper into the warmth. He felt really happy with that. Reborn chuckled at the reaction and glanced around the room and finally settled onto the clock, it was 7:22 right now. He knew that at any moment they were going to bring out the cake and start singing that blasted birthday song to him. And right after that, he was going to have to open all those damn presents that would definitely take hours to get through. Like hell Reborn was going to go through that. No, he _was_ going to disappear before that happened.

His eyes drifted again and went to the calendar that was hanging on the wall. He noticed that today was circled in red with the words 'Reborn's B-day' messily written in it. Smiling at the sight, he moved to the next circle that was in blue that was on the fourteenth. He had to squint his eyes a little to see what was written on it but it was harder since the handwriting was pretty bad.

"Tsuna's B-day."

Suddenly, Reborn froze at that and snapped his head down. "You're birthday is tomorrow? Damn, I must have forgotten with everything that's been going on!" He wanted to bang his head against the wall for forgetting something like that. Tsuna blinked his large eyes and then nodded very slowly. He gave a somewhat gloomy expression and clung tighter to Reborn's jacket.

"Yeah…I'll be eight tomorrow." Tsuna smiled sadly. "But…Mom and Dad, I don't think they remember… I don't think anyone remembers…" He suddenly stared downward at his own legs.

'Everyone must have been trying to prepare for mine that his was overshadowed by mistake even _I_ managed to forget it…' Reborn hummed to himself, trying to think of something. He had to make it up for Tsuna, though he hated his birthday, he didn't want Tsuna to do so too. For the moment, he allowed Tsuna to hold him as he thought and finally, it came to him. Reaching behind to his pockets, he pulled out his wallet, checking it, and then nodded to himself. 'Yes, this will work.' The teen turned his eyes to the child after pulling away. "Alright, Tsuna, we're going to make our escape."

"Escape?"

"Yeah, we're getting out of here to go and celebrate yours and my…birthday…" Reborn tried not to grimace as he mentioned that said word. "…together all night and then you can stay over at my place for the night. I believe there are some clothes there for you since some got left behind a couple of times by mistake so there shouldn't be a problem."

The brunet's face instantly lighted up like a Christmas tree. "R-Really? Really, Reborn?"

"Yeah but first we need to get out of here." The older one stood up, detaching himself from the other, and went straight to the window, pulling it open. A breeze came in, tossing the curtains that were at the side wildly. He turned around, the wind scattering his loose hair, and the curls on the side of his face were twirling. A smile appeared on his face and outstretched a hand towards Tsuna. "Come on, let's go."

Staring at the fingers, the brunet slowly got up, staggering towards the other to grasp the hand. He felt himself getting yanked forward and crashing into Reborn's waist since he was so short.

"Alright, listen, I have a plan. We're going to go through this window and jump over the fence in an area where there aren't many people." Reborn nodded to himself, finding this plan as the only one that would work. He couldn't risk going back down the stairs and getting caught up in something and if they were seen trying to escape, there was no doubt in his mind that people were going to come after them. Glancing to the side, he saw a couple of pieces of paper and a few pens and pencils scattered around on the desk. Taking a sheet and utensil, he wrote a message on it and left it on the table where he was certain a person would be able to see it clearly when they came ( _broke_ ) in. Reborn peered down at Tsuna, who was watching him curiously the entire time. The teen knew that he'd better explain what he was doing to make sure that later on Tsuna wouldn't suddenly start panicking about something. "Tsuna, I'm going to leave a note here. It'll tell whoever finds it that we're going out, okay. That way no one will panic when they find out we're gone."

Tsuna nodded at that and then glanced out the second-story window, swallowing fearfully. "Are we…really going to jump out my window?"

"Yeah but don't worry, I'll be carrying you." Reborn kneeled down and turned the opposite direction. "Get on my back and hang on tightly. I'll be needing both of my arms to get us down."

Muttering a quiet 'okay', Tsuna wrapped his arms around Reborn's neck, making sure not to squeeze too tightly, and was lifted up with ease. Burying his face into the flesh, he able to smell the strong scent from Reborn's hair and skin and closed his eyes at it for a second, enjoying it. It was a pleasant smell but he couldn't put his finger on it. Meanwhile, Reborn shifted the child on his back a little and carefully crawled out the window. Luckily for him, there was a tree right there to the side and jumped onto one of the branches, using the twigs as support to make his way down.

He took a glance back at Tsuna. "You alright back there?"

"Y-Yeah."

"You're not scared, are you?"

Tsuna shook his head wildly and because of that, the older one had to suppress a shiver as the hair tickled against his neck. "N-No…" Truthfully, the brunet had his eyes closed shut tightly, scared of looking down, he never did like heights.

Reborn chuckled, jumping down to the next branch. "You don't need to lie when you're with me. I won't make fun of you."

Blushing, the brunet tightened his grip. "W-Well… A-A little…"

"There we go." The black-haired teen jumped one last time to get to the ground. His feet left a print on the grass and ducked slightly to hide from the windows. Motioning Tsuna to get off, he somewhat dragged the brunet over to the stone wall. Luckily for them, they were in an area that didn't have a single person around though they could still hear the voices and music. All the noise was covering up any they were making, which was definitely working to their advantage. Glancing around, Reborn spotted Nana in the kitchen, cooking something but her back was turned on the two, working on something on the table. There was no one else in sight since that was the only window in the area. As they came up to the fence, they hid into the bushes and trees to cover them up just in case someone decided to come around the corner. But due to the darkness that was already settling into the area, the two easily blended in and disappeared. Reborn tapped the wall with his knuckles. "Alright now to get over this… Hmm…" He rubbed the bottom of his chin, trying to think when an idea came to him. Spinning to Tsuna, he picked the child up, who made a loud squeak in response, startled. "Sorry, Tsuna, but you'll have to go first. I'll need you to sit at the top and remain there until I get over, alright?"

The brunet nodded and did as he was told as he was pushed up. He managed, with a lot of help, to sit at the top of the wall, swinging his feet back and forth as he waited for the other to move. But he didn't have to wait long. All Reborn did was jump up onto the fence and then down with such ease that it left Tsuna amazed with his mouth hanging wide open in surprise and shock. He couldn't help but clap, thinking about how cool Reborn is, and got a smirk from the teen in return.

Positioning his body, the black-haired teen gazed upward with his arms outstretched. "Okay, Tsuna, I need you to jump off."

"W-What?" The child quickly panicked at those words, not liking the idea.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you. Now jump off before someone sees you."

Tsuna trembled for a few seconds before complying, pushing himself off the ledge. He closed his eyes shut, still afraid, but once he landed into a pair of warm arms that immediately wrapped around his tiny body, that fear went away. He was pressed up against Reborn and blinked happily, glad that everything had turned out alright.

"See, that wasn't too hard." The teen commented, putting the brunet on the ground. He rustled the hair gently for a second before pulling back. "Now, we better get going before someone finds out that we're gone." Grabbing Tsuna's hand, he went off in one direction in the streets, trying to get away as far as possible from the house. It wouldn't be good if they did so too soon after all. The noise coming from the party was getting fainter and fainter at each step until it was nearly impossible to hear it. The street lights were on, revealing the dark roads, and were buzzing with numerous types of bugs that fluttered around it. "Hey, Tsuna, have you eaten yet?"

At once, the brunet shook his head.

Reborn gave a look of shock, spinning his head towards Tsuna's direction. "Really? Even with all that food on the table?"

"I…couldn't reach…" Tsuna blushed and hid his face from Reborn by looking to the opposite side. It was true, the tables had been so high up to the point that he couldn't even _see_ what was on it. And he had asked for help but no one paid any attention to him (that and he was scared of most of them), not even his own father, who was getting drunk across the room, came to help him. His mother was already a no-no since she was busy running back and forth from the kitchen constantly. Although, he did managed to get something to drink once and that was only because of Fon, who happened to see Tsuna's frustration and leaned a hand. But sadly, the Chinese couldn't stay around for very long before getting dragged off by someone into the crowd, disappearing into it. And the entire time, Tsuna hadn't once seen his older brother, Giotto. The blond seemed to have vanished somewhere, either in his room or in a safe corner, away from everyone else. When Tsuna looked back, he grumbled, his lips in a pout. "No one wanted to help me except for Fon, he was nice enough to get me something to drink."

"Oh?" Reborn kept that in mind as he plotted his friends' deaths. By then, the noise from the party had disappeared completely. "Then I guess we better get something to eat before heading to the movies."

"Movies?" The brunet perked up at that, he had never been there before.

"Yeah, it's one of the few places we can hide out without anyone finding us." The teen placed his free hand into his pocket while the other hand tightened its grasp on those small fingers. Luckily for him, Tsuna was tall enough that he didn't have to bend down to hold his hand. "And then right after that, we can go search for ice cream. I'm pretty sure that most of the stores are closed by the time we come out of the movie but I think those twenty-four hour ones will have a decent supply to get something."

Tsuna smiled, showing his teeth. "Really? Ice cream?"

"Yeah and then we'll head back to my apartment and stay there. Hopefully, it'll be late enough so that no one will come looking for us." Reborn smirked, getting his plan straightened up in his mind. This will teach those bastards of ever throwing a party for him, ah, the best revenge (at the moment, he had plenty to go through after all). And not only that, he was even able to get away from all his ex-girlfriends, the annoyances. This wasn't so bad.

The two continued the nearly empty path since it was starting to get late in the night, almost reaching eight now. Not that he cared. Their shadows stretched across the ground from the moonlight and the lamps, their shoes clicking on the concrete. Reborn had to admit that today was a nice day out, even the air was perfect. Tsuna remained quiet for a bit, shifting closer to the other while looking all around the area. He felt a slight tug in his chest and the brunet knew why. He was scared of the dark, almost horrified…but as long as Reborn was with him, he knew that he'll safe, no matter what.

Reborn tilted his head. "So what should we eat tonight?" His eyes glanced to Tsuna, who was staring upward to return the gaze. "Is there anything you'd like to try?"

"Um… Ah… There is something…" The brunet bit his bottom lip uncertainly.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Umm… Well, not long ago Dad mentioned that he had s-susha? Or was it suchi?" Tsuna pouted, trying to remember the word but he couldn't seem to get it correctly.

"Sushi?" The teen offered, chuckling at the frustrated yet adorable expression that was on Tsuna's face.

"Yes, sushi! That's it. Dad said over dinner that he had it for lunch with some friends. But what is sushi? Is it good?" Tsuna peered at the older one, curiosity written all over his face. He wanted to know.

"Yes, it's good but I'm not sure if you'll like it." Patting Tsuna on the head again, he smiled. "We can share and if you don't like it, we can order something else for you." Reborn pulled the other towards the direction of the closest sushi restaurant called Yamamoto's Sushi. It was well known in the area, being as one of the best, and it was almost the least expensive one too, which Reborn was glad for. Entering the building, he noticed that there were only a few people here probably because it was so late in the night. Avoiding those people, they went up to a table and settled into some seats, waiting to get served. Immediately, Reborn looked at the menu, wondering on what to have, seeing as Tsuna wouldn't know what to choice at all. He quickly picked out two dishes, one that was sushi and the other not just in case the child couldn't eat it the first one. Meanwhile, Tsuna's eyes wandered the place, curious about it, and then snapped his head towards an older looking man that came by their table.

"Hello, welcome to Yamamoto's Sushi restaurant. Would you like something to drink?" A name tag was pinned onto the man's shirt, reading Tusyoshi. Reborn glanced up and took off his fedora, placing it neatly on the table.

"Yes, some water for both and we're actually ready to order as well."

Tsuna watched the teen order, speaking to the man with such ease. He heard something about sushi and then the last order, which he recognized as shrimp tempura (Nana loved to make this for him sometimes). When the waiter finished writing down everything, he offered Tsuna a bright smile before wandering off, heading behind the counter to get the food ready.

"Reborn…" Tsuna whispered, catching the teen's attention. "What's going to happen when they find out we're missing?"

"I have a… _very_ good idea on what will happen. I think it'll be safe to say that I won't be coming over to your place for a while. I can handle Iemitsu easily but Nana is another thing (even now he still refused to call the two parents anything else but their proper names much to their insistence)." Reborn sighed, folding his arms, and toyed with his fedora, fingering the rim of it. Yes, he'd have to avoid the woman like a plague for a couple of days until this whole thing cooled off. Most likely he'll have to distract her with something. What that something was? He wasn't entirely sure yet. Picking the fedora up higher, he twirled it on his fingers before slapping it onto Tsuna's head.

A loud squeak came from the other in shock with his hands reaching up to touch the hat, which was obviously too large to fit on the child's head and came down to cover his entire face from the nose up. Reborn laughed at the sight, pushing the hat further down in amusement, watching Tsuna struggle to see.

"Here you go." The waiter suddenly came back, holding two glass cups of water and placed them onto the table with two sharp clicks with straws. He looked between the two with a smile on his lips and went away, leaving the pair alone. Finally, Tsuna managed to pluck the fedora off, taking a deep breath seeing as he couldn't exactly breath properly before. His hair, on the other hand, was all messed up with some of the strands sticking into the air. He shook his head to get them back into order and blinked his overly large eyes, pouting.

"Reborn…" Tsuna grumbled and playfully tossed the fedora back, which Reborn caught with ease and placed onto the table with a laugh. "Meanie…"

"You're just too much fun to mess with." Reborn grinned, leaning onto the table with his elbows. He opened his straw, getting rid of the paper wrapping, and chucked it into his drink. Tsuna tried to do the same but when he tried to throw it into his drink, he missed. Chuckling again, Reborn helped out by nudging the glass closer to the brunet while keeping a watchful eye to make sure that it wouldn't tip over and spill. Tsuna just sipped through the clear straw, swinging his feet back and forth in the chair.

It didn't take long for their food to come out since they were basically the only ones that were ordering. Everyone else that was in the room had already gotten theirs and was actually starting to finish up or were paying. Reborn didn't care much about anyone else except for the food that was in front of him and Tsuna. The shrimp tempura was obviously what it was and it looked exactly like the kind that Nana would make at home. But the sushi was something entirely new. It was a Sashimi Roll which was a mixture of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and escalor wrapped separately in rice paper. Tsuna stared at the colorful pieces, wondering on which one try. Some looked really good in his opinion but there were a couple that he couldn't help but stare at in wonder, not sure if he wanted to try it. Smiling softly at the expression, Reborn took out the chopsticks that were on the table and scooted a couple, most of the tuna and salmon, towards the brunet for him to try.

The two ate mostly in peace, though, every once in a while, the teen had to help Tsuna out and prevent him from making a mess. It was adorable to watch the child nevertheless.

Tsuna instantly liked sushi very much, however, when he had tried the yellowtail and escalor, he made a face at the taste. He smacked his lips, slowly chewing the piece, eyes glancing all around. Reborn laughed at it, rising up a hand to cover his mouth, and turned to the side slightly. He reached for his water, taking a sip (without the straw) to cover his voice, before taking all those that Tsuna disliked onto his plate.

About halfway through the meal, a sound caught their ears. It was loud and ringing terribly. Reborn glanced down into his pocket where he could feel his phone vibrating.

"I believe they just found out that we're gone." Reborn muttered, taking the device out.

Tsuna held tightly to his glass, feeling the coldness sink into his fingertips. "Are they…going to come after us now? Do we have…to go back?"

"Nope." The teen stared at the flashing cover where he could see some numbers. He recognized it as Iemitsu and smirked. With one movement, he clicked the end button, cutting off the call. "See, too easy. But did they really think I'd answer after pulling such a stunt?"

Tsuna just tilted his head not sure if he was supposed to answer that.

Messing with the phone a little longer, Reborn turned it off. He was certain that it was going to be ringing all night long and he'd rather not let something like that disturb his time with Tsuna. When he glanced back up, he noticed that the brunet was still staring at him and gave a smirk. The teen dangled the phone before putting it away. "And now they can't disturb us for the rest of the night. It's just you and me now."

"So that means I'll be with you, right?"

"Yep." Reborn's smirk suddenly grew darker but Tsuna had by then turned his attention back to his dinner. "But I'd like to see them _try_ and find us and then bring us back. I'd very much like to see them _try_."

The child could only stare when he heard Reborn, not sure on how to respond to that either.

It didn't take long for them to finish both plates and get their bill, which was placed at the side with a click. Watching with curious eyes, Tsuna stared at the sheet of paper that was inside a tray. He was curious what those numbers meant but didn't bother asking as he took a sip of his water, holding the glass cup with two hands. Instantly, the teen took out a couple of bills once he was certain that everything was done and placed them on the table, combining both the payment and tip into one.

"Done?" Reborn asked, pushing his glass away. He had his legs folded underneath the table and was leaning back into his seat.

Tsuna nodded his head, blinking his large eyes.

"Good, then, let's go. Is there any movie you'd like to see?" Reborn spoke as he reached for his fedora, putting it back onto his head. He took Tsuna's hand again and led the brunet outside, opening the sliding door for him but not before waving goodbye to the waiter. They were back out on the street once more and even less people were outside now. The street lights were getting brighter and the buzzing sound was getting louder. More bugs were flying around it, drawn by the light. Nonetheless, it told the two something. That it was starting to get late. As Reborn lead them, the brunet tilted his head, trying to think of something he wanted to see. But nothing came to his mind.

"I don't know." Tsuna finally said, scrunching up his face, and then tightened his grip. "I really don't. Is there anything interesting?"

"Hmmm… Not sure, we'll just have to check the theater when we get there."

Nodding his head in agreement, Tsuna shifted closer so that they were now touching. The black-haired teen glanced down at that but didn't say anything and continued on. When they arrived at the cinema, Reborn took notice of the crowd that was already at the front. There were a lot of couples in line and he recognized a few from his school. Not want to be recognized by them, he pulled his fedora further downward, covering his face. A few people did glance over at their direction but that was about it and Reborn was alright with that. He just didn't want someone to identify him and go blabbing about it to someone else. That could very well cause a chain reaction that could lead to Iemitsu and Nana finding out where they were at and that was something he didn't want to happen.

The line was long and it took them a while to start moving to the front. The more they went forward, the more people that were now standing behind and it seemed to be getting longer at each passing second. There was only one thing that came to Reborn's mind when he noticed this. 'Guess something new must have come out tonight.'

Suddenly, the teen felt a tug at his pants and glanced down. Tsuna was looking nervous all over again, he really did dread people especially crowds. "R-Reborn…"

"It's alright." Reborn reassured, patting the child gently. "No one here is going to hurt you and I'm definitely not letting you leave my side either."

Tsuna blinked at that and then nodded. "O-Okay… Thanks, Reborn."

"No problem and anyway, you're my responsibility at this moment." The teen smirked. 'Though I do have to wonder if they (Tsuna's parents) will ever let me take him out ever again after this… Well, even if they say no, I doubt they can stop me.' Reborn chuckled at his thoughts.

His eyes gazed up to the clock that was on the screen with the show times.

'9:36…' Glancing over the shows, Reborn tried to find anything appropriate for a child. He glanced down at Tsuna once more, who continued to cling to his leg instead of his hand and tried to hide behind him from all the eyes. A couple of people were cooing at the brunet since he was adorable, but it only made Tsuna edge further away in fear.

The black-haired teen shook his head and went back to the movies. Many of them were rated R so that cut down several that were on the list and finally decided on something PG for Tsuna's sake (It wasn't something he'd watch but he could deal with it). Reborn didn't want the brunet to freak out on him during the movie and like hell he was going to take him to a horror one. Then he'll be dealing with the nightmares tonight all night long. And that was something he'd very much liked to avoid. He's seen Tsuna have one of those panic attacks before because he got scared and it wasn't funny.

When they got to the front, Reborn paid and grabbed the tickets, pocketing them instantly. However, the movie didn't start until ten leaving them a while to wander until then. Spotting a place not too far away, he took Tsuna to sit on a bench since he wasn't quite ready on going inside just yet. It was a nice night out after all and the moon was wonderful tonight, even Reborn had to admit that.

Tsuna swung his legs back and forth and then glanced up at the other. "Oh…that's right, I never did wish you a happy birthday. I feel really bad for forgetting."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that.

"So um…" The brunet smiled. "Happy birthday! You're now one year older! Isn't that great!"

The black-haired teen stared for a few seconds and then started laughing. Tsuna remained where he was at, thoroughly confused on what was happening. Why would Reborn laugh? Tsuna didn't get it. Suddenly, the teen leaned over and wrapped an arm around the other's shoulder, forcing him closer. A loud squawk came from Tsuna.

"Thanks." Reborn smiled. "You know, I don't really mind hearing it from you that much. However, when someone else says it, I can't help but feel pissed off."

Tsuna tilted his head, still swinging his legs even though he was leaning against the other. "Really? Why's that?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself but I know one thing, I've never been a fan of large gatherings. You could say it that it annoys me just as much as when people say happy birthday to me. I hate it. That and I also don't really like it when people send things to me. It's just a pain. I get all sorts of things and it makes me feel like I'm obligated to give something back so I return their gifts." Reborn sighed, leaning further back against the bench, folding his arms once he unhooked it from Tsuna's shoulder.

"Then what about my…gift?"

"I don't mind it. Maybe because…" The teen stared down at the other, whose eyes were shining with curiosity. "Maybe because you're different than everyone else, yeah, that's right. You are. You don't act like anyone else and I think that's the reason why I like you so much, the reason why I don't mind you at all and why I'm still here with you."

Tsuna scrunched up his nose, not getting it.

Reborn just chuckled at the expression and rustled the messy hair once more. "It's okay if you don't get it now but you will one day. I just hope that when you get a little older that you'll never change from who you are right now. I happen to like you like this but even I know it won't last forever. People change as they get older, it happens all the time."

The brunet pouted and reached up, grasping Reborn's hands. "Then you'll have to stay with me to make sure that I don't change too much, right? You'll remain by my side, right?"

The teen paused at that, surprised by the response before nodding his head. "Yeah… Yeah, I will."

With that, Tsuna smiled brightly, clasping his hands together. It was at that moment that Reborn realized that they had about five minutes before their show started. Whispering a curse, which he made low enough so that Tsuna wouldn't hear it, he picked himself up with the brunet following and headed towards the theater. They could always continue their little talk later, right now, they had to go and get to their seats before the crowd took all the best ones.

* * *

Reborn yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. He was starting to get sleepy and with one glance, he could tell that Tsuna was just barely keeping his eyes open. It was obviously late by the time they had gotten out of the movie theater. Though Reborn could still remember what had happened during it.

Halfway through the show, Tsuna had slid to the side against Reborn's shoulder and fell promptly asleep. Though the teen was slightly startled at the sudden weight, he didn't mind it and just pushed the brunet closer to his body, continuing to watch the movie that was still going on. He didn't even care when Tsuna, for a moment, rubbed his head closer to his warmth.

The fedora had to be taken off during the movie and instead of keeping it in his lap like he had before he placed it on top of Tsuna's head. This helped block out some of the light from the screen but a small mutter of confusion came from the child in response to the extra weight for a few seconds before it stopped. Reborn had laughed quietly at the reaction before turning back to the movie.

Back outside the theater, Reborn stretched and gazed around the place. 'Looks like its time to start heading back home.' He paused when he remembered something. 'Oh, that's right, the ice-cream…' Reborn had promised to get the ice-cream for Tsuna though they might not be able to eat it tonight… (Or was it morning of today instead… No, not yet) but he knew they could do so later. Reborn glanced down at the child that was walking beside him once more and shook his head at the adorable expression, tempted to reach down and rub the hair.

'Okay, first the ice-cream.' Reborn thought to himself as he entered a nearby convenience store. He noticed instantly that the moment they stepped in the clerk at the front with the cash register snapped his head up to stare at them, determining if they were dangerous or not, before going back to flipping his magazine. Reborn huffed at the response, he may look dangerous but as long as Tsuna was at his side that went immediately away. Heading straight over to the ice-cream section, he stared at the items, thinking of which one might be best.

Reborn peered down at Tsuna, trying to remember what flavors the child usually had when they were eating together. 'Ah, that's right. He loves the cookie dough ones. Hmm…and there was also something else… Let's see… Oh, yes, cookies and cream.' The teen glanced down at the items, looking at each one until he found what he wanted. Picking out a couple of each and some for himself, he held all of it in one hand with some trouble and wandered over to the front to pay.

Tsuna dangled at his side, barely conscious, and was just following along in a daze. He would rub his eyes cutely every once in a while and yawn then rub his eyes again when tears appeared in them. Leaning over, he tiredly grabbed onto Reborn's leg, hugging it closely, and used it as a hold to keep him standing and from tipping over.

The cashier glanced between them curiously before doing his job, saying the total of the items.

Quickly paying, the two went outside and Reborn instantly placed the bag onto the ground.

Tsuna blinked his bleary eyes at that, glancing with half-closed eyes at the bag. "Reborn…" He yawned right after that and rubbed his eyes once more. "Wh…ere are we go…ing… now?"

"Back to my apartment." Reborn got onto his knees and turned around, twisting his head back slightly so he could still see the brunet behind. "Tsuna, I need you to get onto my back."

"Why…?" The brunet tilted his head and blinked his eyes twice but at the second one, it took him a little bit longer to open them up. He wobbled to the side for a second before catching himself. Reborn chuckled at that.

"That's why, idiot. Now get on before you fall asleep standing."

Tsuna still didn't get it, his mind clouded with sleep, but tried to think nonetheless. In the end, he shrugged his shoulders with his lips poking out and yawned again. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around Reborn's neck, rubbing his face into the skin for warmth.

Reborn shivered at the touch, not really used to such contact. No one has ever touched him like that before, not even his ex-girlfriends. 'Can't be helped though… Now if only he wasn't so cute…'

Lifting the child up onto his back, he reached down with one hand to grab the plastic bag while the other hand, held one of Tsuna's legs up. He maneuvered a little more and managed to get both legs. It was a lot easier this way since he knew it was going to happen eventually with the rate Tsuna was falling asleep. It wasn't long after that he realized that it was getting close to twelve but luckily for him, his apartment was close by.

"Reborn…" A mutter came from behind and then a sigh.

Stopping his movements for a moment in surprise, he waited for Tsuna to continue but all he got was a small rubbing of the brunet's head against his skin.

'Ah…I guess Tsuna fell asleep. He must be really tired if he went out like that.' Reborn took a moment to glance back at his little buddle and indeed, the brunet was fast asleep, eyes closed shut. He laughed quietly for a second before turning back to the street. His eyes kept watch of the area, looking for anything. It was a Friday night and there were all sorts of things and people that wondered these late nights. His ears did pick up a couple of noises down the streets he passed by but he didn't pay much attention to it and continued on. There was no way in hell he was going to put Tsuna in any danger just to see what was going on. 'The Sawadas are already after me because I took Tsuna, can't imagine what would happen if they saw him hurt.'

Slowly, his apartment building came into sight and he sighed in relief. Making his way to the front door, they slid open, welcoming him to the front desk where someone was stationed to keep watch. The man that was there glanced up at his arrival, questions running in his eyes at the sight, before giving a nod when he recognized Reborn though he still stared at the teen for a moment longer at the extra load.

"Ah, Mr. Reborn, back so early tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm taking care of this little kid for today and tomorrow. It's his birthday tomorrow, or in a few minutes, so I decided to spend the whole night with him and then the morning before sending him back home." Reborn motioned to the little one on his back. As for what the guard had said earlier, normally he would come back a lot _later_ in the nights because of his dates.

"Ah, that's so kind of you. But what about you? I've heard that today is your birthday, correct?" The security guard asked, standing up from his seat.

"Please don't mention that and as usual, if anyone comes looking for me, please send them off. I don't care who they are. It could be the kid's parents for all I care." Reborn sighed, making his way to the elevator. "But if they are persistent enough, you can ring me up and ask."

The guard made a face at that. "Did something happen?"

"Something like that."

"I see." The man helped by pressing the up button for Reborn and waited for a few moments until the metal doors opened up. Stepping in, the teen adjusted the weight on his back once more, making sure that he wouldn't drop Tsuna anytime soon. But as he did that, he accidently dropped the bag of ice-cream to the ground. Instantly, the guard helped out by reaching down to pick it up. Reborn gave a nod as thanks and placed a firmer grip onto the handle of the bag.

'Ahhh… What a pain… But…' The black eyes peered back at the sleeping face with a smile. 'It's not so bad…'

Meanwhile, the guard stepped inside for a second, long enough to press the button for the floor number and leave.

"Well then, have a nice night, Mr. Reborn."

"Will do, thank you."

As the metal doors began to close, Reborn saw the guard walking towards the front door, probably going to lock it to prevent people from coming in so freely. The elevator made a loud sound and began going up.

Tsuna remained buried into the crook of Reborn's neck, fast asleep, with his hold on the teen's shoulders limp.

'What a day… But still, it was worth it.' When the black-haired teen heard the dinging sound of the elevator opening, he stepped out, and headed straight to the right to a door that was at the end of the hallway. He struggled slightly to get his keys out from his pockets and open the door while holding Tsuna and the bag of ice cream the whole time. When he did, he used his foot to push the frame open the remaining way. The keys were instantly thrown onto a table and he had to use the back of his foot to close the door. At the moment, he didn't bother locking it, he'd have to get back to that later.

But first things first…

He needed to put Tsuna down and put the soon-to-be melting ice-cream into the freezer. Placing the bag onto the counter inside the kitchen, he strolled over to his bedroom that was just past the living room. Reborn did the same thing to the door and peered over the area, checking it, and when he deemed it safe (Why? He'll never tell), Tsuna was placed gently onto his bed. The child mumbled about something under his breath and nuzzled into the sheets, his head on the pillow. The teen, on the other hand, chuckled at the sight, reaching down to rub the spiky hair affectionately.

His eyes glanced at the clock, it was ten to twelve.

Just a few more minutes…

He smirked and went off, getting ready for bed but not before making sure the front door was locked. Every now and then, he'd hear a mumble from the bundle on his bed and some movement when he passed by but he didn't pay much attention to it.

Reborn did, however, check his cell phone and found out that he had a total of two hundred over messages. Why over? Because his message box was full, the last one had come in at 9:57 and he was pretty certain that there was more after that. He scroll down and spotted a couple from his friends and a handful from Iemitsu. He chuckled at some of the messages, just glancing at them.

There were so many threatening words written in it that it was actually making him snicker louder at the sight. Still, he just couldn't imagine what would happen tomorrow when he went outside…

'Ah, this will be fun.' Reborn thought with a grimace. He then looked at the phone calls and saw that there were quite a number of them, and the same number of voice mail left behind too. Instantly, he deleted all the messages. It was obvious what they were about. Without caring anymore, he placed his phone on the kitchen counter next to the refrigerator where he had stored the ice-cream into and headed back to the bedroom. Feeling himself getting sleepy, the bed looked really welcoming and shifted into the covers, moving Tsuna more to the side so he could get in. He ran his hand through the caramel-colored locks, pushing them aside to get a better look at Tsuna's face, and glanced towards the clock that was on his bedside.

It was twelve.

"Happy, eighth birthday, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

There was a rustle from the child and tired honey-colored eyes fluttered open. They stared into Reborn's dark orbs before smiling softly.

The older one blinked his eyes for a moment, not expecting the other to wake up, and stared. But that moment passed and he lay down onto the bed, getting underneath the covers since the room was cold.

Tsuna smiled tenderly, shifting closer and rubbed his face into the teen's chest. His small fingers clung onto the clothes, waiting for Reborn to wrap his arms around his body and when the teen did, he closed his eyes once more.

"Thanks…Reborn."


	5. Year Five

Reborn yawned, covering his mouth with his hand as he walked down the road all alone; not very many people were in the area at this time of the day. His fedora was, as always now, on his head, and he was currently dressed in dark slacks with a nice looking jacket slung over his shoulders. Glancing around the neighborhood he was in, he continued to walk, not bothering with anything else since he already had a destination in mind. He took notice of his dark shadow beneath his feet and, if it wasn't for his fedora, he would have had to cover his eyes from the blazing sun high above his head. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he stared ahead of him, well aware of the stares he was getting from the girls that had passed by, many of whom didn't attend his school. He ignored every one of them, thoroughly disinterested, and passed them without care, even those who were purposefully trying to catch his attention. His shoes clacked on the concrete, his shadow dancing behind him as he continued to walk down the street.

Finally, he stopped in front of a house; a very familiar house that he had regularly visited for the past five years. His eyes trailed over the place and he couldn't stop the shiver that ran down his spine in memory of last year's birthday party. It had taken everyone a while to forgive him for his sudden disappearance; however, it took a bit more effort on his behalf for them to do so. Eventually, the incident had cooled down without too much trouble. Those who were close to him, mainly his friends, had half-expected something like this from him and weren't really all that surprised when it had happened. Tsuna's mom, Nana, was one scary woman when she was mad. Worse still were the pair of disappointed eyes that had gazed at him when he had gotten round to returning Tsuna to his house.

'Guess I'd better head in,' the teen thought to himself, before he stepped closer and opened the front door without bothering to knock. He was so used to coming and going from Tsuna's home that he had been given a pair of keys to the house; it was almost like he lived there. Reborn was certain that if it had been any other way, if he didn't enjoy his privacy so much, he would have been dragged into living with the unusually welcoming family. Glancing at his surroundings and taking note of the familiar scent coming from the kitchen, he immediately headed toward that area after taking his shoes off at the front door. His eyes peered in first, spotting Nana at the stove, obviously cooking breakfast for her two sons, Iemitsu having left to go on his business trips as usual. Reborn leaned against the doorframe to see if she would notice him but, after a while, decided to knock on the wall with the back of his hand to make her aware of his presence.

The sound startled the woman and she almost dropped the spatula that was in her hand. She looked over with a surprised expression; her eyes were wide since she knew that there were no way her children would be up this early on a no-school day. When she saw who was standing there, she smiled brightly. "Oh, good morning, Reborn. You're here just in time. I'm about to finish making breakfast so just take a seat anywhere." She returned her attention to the food cooking in the hot pan on the stove.

"Ah, good morning to you too, Nana." Reborn took off the fedora, placing it on the counter in respect, before taking a seat. He watched as the woman gave him a pout, still unable to get him to call her 'Mom' or 'Mama', though she was happy that he had finally taken off the 'Mrs.' part. As his eyes wandered over the kitchen, it wasn't hard to notice that two people were missing from the room. "Where are Giotto and Tsuna?"

"I think they're still sleeping." Nana replied, flipping something in the pan. "Would you be a dear and wake them up? It'll make things much easier on my part – that is, if you don't mind."

The teen shook his head. "No, it's alright, I'll do it." He stood up, leaving his fedora there, and made his way around the house towards the flight of stairs that was beside the front door. After quietly heading up the stairs, he went to the first door on his right and opened it, once more, without knocking. All he had to see was the blond hair that was poking out from underneath the blue covers to know that Giotto was still fast asleep. He shook his head at the sight and reached over for a large book that had been left on the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. Holding the book with one hand, he positioned the spine of it outward, towards the direction of Giotto, and tossed it. The item landed right on the blonde's head, hitting him painfullywith a loud smack that echoed in the quiet room.

"Ow! What the hell?" Giotto sprang up, rubbing his forehead and moaning about how badly it hurt. It took him a few moments to recover from the attack and when he did, his bright blue eyes narrowed furiously. Turning to the only person he knew in the entire world who would pull such a stunt, he growled. "What was that for, Reborn? Are you trying to kill me?"

The teen smirked in amusement. "Nana asked me to wake you. She's got breakfast almost ready so head on down before I decide to take everything." He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and looking smug at the pain he had managed to inflict. There was now a lovely red line appearing on Giotto's head. Regrettably, it was hastily covered up by the blond, who upon seeing Reborn's satisfied smile, had rearranged his messy bangs. Shaking his head, Reborn took a step back, about to take his leave, but was stopped when Giotto began talking.

"Like hell I'll allow you to do that. What are you trying to do, kill me? Starve me?" Giotto slowly made his way out of bed, pushed the covers off, and stretched. He was still glaring hatefully even though they both knew he looked ridiculous, being only dressed in his boxers. The relationship between the two had improved over the years but they still couldn't help but get into fights. Most of the time now, they only did it to amuse themselves. To Giotto, Reborn was the only person who could act like that and get away with it. It was different compared to the usual treatment he got from everyone else. Many of his friends and classmates saw him in a somewhat _worshipful_ light and although it was nice here and there, it got tiring really fast. As for Reborn, well, his reasons were his own.

"If only." The teen chuckled and closed the door, giving the blond some privacy to change. He went further down the hallway and into the next door on the left, opening it up without knocking, yet again. His eyes immediately zoned in on the bundle that was sleeping on the bed, all nestled up in the sheets as if it were a cocoon. Caramel-colored hair was sticking out from the top, scattered across the pillow, and a fraction of Tsuna's face could be seen from beneath the messy mop of hair. Reborn smirked, moving closer, and sat down… right on top of the brunet's back.

"H-Huh?" Tsuna cried out in shock, though his voice came out as more of a gasp since his breath had left him with Reborn pressing his chest into the bed. Squirming experimentally, he found that he couldn't move very much in his position, his legs trapped underneath the covers and the weight was holding most of his body down. He reached out to grab the railing in front of his bed and tried desperately to look behind him. All he needed to see were the cunning eyes and curly sideburns to know who it was. "R-Reborn!"

"Finally figured it out, took you long enough." The seventeen-year old grinned, crossing his legs, and smirked, adding more pressure on the other. Tsuna stopped squirming, finding that it was only worsening his situation, and sighed, giving up any hope of winning this battle. There was no way he could win, not against Reborn anyway.

"Reborn, can you please get off of me?" He whined, releasing his grip on the bedpost. He just laid there, burying his face into his pillow in frustration. Tsuna pouted and tried to move his legs again but he could only get them to wiggle from side to side. Under the covers, he was dressed in his orange-colored pajamas with the top part of his shirt unbuttoned. Sometime during the night, it had ridden up to reveal his back.

The teen smirked and then tilted his head to the side, his curls bouncing. "Well since you asked so nicely, why not?" But instead of getting up, he slid off sideways so that he was no longer on the child but still on the bed. Tsuna immediately sat up, taking deep breaths now that he could do so, and glanced over at the other before pouting. He managed to get himself untangled from the bed sheets and shifted closer to the teen beside him.

"Reborn…" Tsuna whined again, jutting out his lower lip. He grabbed the other's jacket and made an attempt to shake Reborn. The teen just sat there, chuckling at the boy's reaction, letting Tsuna do as he pleased. "Why do you have to be so mean and wake me up like that?"

"Because it's fun to watch you squirm." Reborn answered straightforwardly, grinning at his pout, and ruffling the caramel-colored hair, which was already messy and sticking out everywhere. When he pulled away, he stood up and placed his hands onto his hips, examining his work.

Tsuna officially looked like a puffed-up cat.

The black-haired teen, snickering at how the other was responding to his do over, could hear a door closing from the hallway, most likely Giotto's, and looked over the child before him once more in amusement. Reborn took a few steps back towards the door, holding the handle to keep it open. "Now, get dressed. Breakfast is ready and if you don't come down soon enough, I just might eat your share."

"Ehh?"

The teen smirked at the reaction he got and slowly stepped out into the hallway. As he began closing the door, he could see Tsuna jumping out of bed and reaching for his clothes that were scattered across the floor. Reborn shook his head and made his way back down the stairs, though not before hearing a loud 'thump' come from within Tsuna's room. This made him pause for a second. 'Guess he tripped again…' Not bothering to help the other, since this was such a common occurrence, he went back into the kitchen. He could see Giotto sitting at the table beside the kitchen counter, already starting to eat his breakfast. The red mark was still there, partially hidden underneath his hair, but it had lightened up, given some time. Nana was just coming around with the second plate when Reborn started to make his way over to a seat.

"Hope you enjoy it, Reborn." She placed it down in front of him along with a glass of orange juice.

"I believe I will, as always. Your cooking is always the best." Just as Reborn reached over to grab his chopsticks, Tsuna suddenly came rushing down the stairs, each step thudding with the force of his feet. As the teen listened, there suddenly came a yelp and then some irregular thumping noises. A pained groan came next, but no one got up from their seats, and Nana appeared like she hadn't heard a thing; she was humming to herself and getting the third plate ready for her second son's arrival.

"Looks like Tsuna tripped again." Giotto muttered between bites, shaking his head at his younger brother's clumsiness.

Reborn snorted, picking up the pair of chopsticks, and tested them by moving his hand. "Actually, that's the second time today. He tripped in his bedroom when trying to get dressed."

The blond sighed, moving his food around his plate with his chopsticks.

It was soon after that, that Tsuna appeared in the kitchen, looking a little red in the face. His clothes were all rumpled as he tumbled into his seat. There had been a faint limp in his walk, the teen noted, and Tsuna winced slightly when he sat down, or at least tried to. Reborn actually had to reach over to grab the brunet's arm to keep the other from falling off his chair as he pushed Tsuna into a sitting position. The tint on the child's face darkened in embarrassment. He managed to stutter out some thanks before lightening up at the sight of his mother coming around with another plate of food, this one meant for him. Peering at Reborn, he stuck out his tongue, and for that, the teen slapped the back of his head.

"So why are you here today, Reborn?" Nana asked, having finished getting everything complete and settled into a chair at the kitchen table with her own plate of food. Her chopsticks were in her hand and she smiled brightly like usual, inquiring as to why the other would visit so early in the day.

"Hmm…" The teen glanced from face to face before stopping at Tsuna, who was blinking in curiosity. "Well, I was planning on taking Tsuna out, unless he has something better to do."

That one sentence made the brunet grin widely and wriggle in his seat. "R-Really? You're taking me out?"

"Yeah. Of course, if Nana lets you."

Nana smiled, chuckling at her son's reaction to the invitation. She loved seeing her youngest happy. She had always been worried since Nana knew that he rarely got along with most people. "I have no problems with it. There's no school today after all."

Reborn nodded to that and then twisted to peer at the eldest son, Giotto. "If you like, Giotto, you can come with us as well."

The blond shook his head immediately. "No thanks, I'd rather not. And anyway, I have to meet up with a friend later today for a study session. I have a test next week I need to prepare for."

"I see. Well, that's too bad, perhaps next time." Reborn smirked, sipping his orange juice. When he finished, he placed the glass cup back onto the table with a sharp clack. His chopsticks were currently gripping a portion of Nana's delicious home-cooked breakfast and he brought it up to his mouth to chew.

Nana clapped her hands together, drawing everyone's attention to her after placing her chopsticks to the side of her plate. Staring directly at the teen, she couldn't help but direct some lingering suspicion toward Reborn from the birthday party incident and, though she had forgiven him, she still felt a little protective of her son. However, when she saw how cheerful Tsuna was whenever Reborn was around, it wasn't hard for her to make her decision. "So where are you planning on going?"

"That, I'm not entirely sure of yet – just wherever our feet takes us I guess, unless Tsuna has anywhere he wants to go." The teen glanced over to the brunet, who was actually looking starry-eyed. He chuckled at the sight, finding it cute and absolutely adorable, and reached over to ruffle the caramel-colored hair. Watching Tsuna close one eye to prevent his bangs from irritating it, Reborn couldn't resist a smirk when the brunet pushed his head upward to meet his hand. Tsuna was acting like a cat – the only thing he wasn't doing was 'meowing' at his touches – and he had a large grin on his face. Giotto shook his head at what his little brother was doing but he still had a soft smile on his lips as he went around the table, wrapping his arms around Tsuna's waist.

"Aw, little Tsuna is soooo cute!" Giotto gave a tight squeeze. "I refuse to give you away to anyone… except maybe Reborn since I know he'll protect you with every ounce of strength in his body." He peered at said person, giving him a _look_ , before going back to his brother. Rubbing his cheek against Tsuna's, he heard a muffled cry and squeezed harder. Nana was laughing in the background, delighted to see her youngest so loved, while Reborn retracted his hand, chuckling at Tsuna's response, and sat back in his chair to watch.

"Giotto, Tsuna can't breathe at the rate you're squeezing him." Reborn commented when he started to notice that the brunet was struggling and waving his arms wildly to get away. Immediately, Giotto loosened his grip, pouting, but still rubbed their cheeks together, unable to resist Tsuna's sheer adorability. Reborn sighed, placing his hands onto his lap and crossing his ankles. "So Tsuna, do you have anywhere you'd like to go?"

The brunet blinked, humming to himself, and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. Meanwhile, the blond had stopped, waiting to hear the answer. "Doesn't matter to me, as long as I'm with you, I'm happy anywhere."

Reborn coughed and ducked his head to hide the uncharacteristic blush that was appearing on his cheeks, but Giotto knew and chuckled in amusement, laughing at the fact that Tsuna could so easily make the coldest and most popular person in town _blush_.

"Poor, Reborn, getting manipulated by my cute little brother, huh?" As Giotto grinned, a glare was turned his way, but it was hard to take it seriously with the tint on the black-haired teen's pale cheeks. He could only laugh harder.

Reborn huffed and was tempted to grab something to throw at him but decided at the last moment not to do so; too much trouble and it would probably make a mess in the end. That and Nana was right in front of them. He could always act on his grudge later, maybe the next time he had to wake Giotto up. Smirking evilly, he could see Giotto shivering at the sight, knowing that something bad was going to happen to him later on in retaliation and that he was going to have to be more careful from now on.

As things began to settle down, everyone started to finish breakfast, placing their empty dishes into the sink. Reborn, having already stood up, walked over to his fedora that was still on the counter and settled it on top of his head, adjusting it to sit the way he liked. He reached into his right pocket to make sure that his wallet and keys were there and nodded to himself afterward. His eyes then traveled over to the little brunet that was following behind him, knowing that Tsuna wanted to reach out and grab his jacket. He sighed and motioned the other to do so. It was going to happen sooner or later, no use in resisting. Immediately, Tsuna squealed and clutched the end of his jacket, pulling himself closer so that they were now touching.

"Well, Nana, we'll be going now. We'll both see you later, alright?" Reborn placed a hand onto Tsuna's right shoulder, patting it softly.

Tsuna beamed, gripping tighter onto his jacket, and slowly edged his hold around so that he could clutch Reborn's left arm. "Yeah! Mom, I'll see you later."

"Okay, have a good time." She smiled while Giotto waved from the kitchen table, finishing up his orange juice so that he could put his dishes away. Nana gave them a small wave as well and slipped back into the kitchen, cleaning things up and packing something into a Ziploc bag.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll have a good time." The brunet smiled widely, showing his teeth, and looking like he wanted to bounce up and down in happiness. At last, he was able to spend some alone time with Reborn. Normally, that was nearly impossible since someone else would be tagging along, like Giotto or even one of Reborn's friends. And then there had been the last few weeks, where the teen had been extremely busy with school. From what Tsuna had heard over the phone and in conversations during dinner – with Nana wanting the teen to come over as often as possible to make sure he was eating properly – Reborn had been taking tests for his classes on each subject and been somewhat overwhelmed by how much work that had suddenly appeared. Even Verde, who was the smartest of the group, had been surprised and a bit hard pressed. So whenever Tsuna went over to Reborn's apartment to visit during those times, he was only able to watch TV while the other studied for exams.

But that was now all over and done with.

And that meant Tsuna had Reborn all to himself.

There was no way he was going to share him with anyone today… well, he hoped so.

As they left the house, the brunet continued to clutch onto Reborn's arm, grinning widely. "So where are we heading first?"

"Haven't made up my mind yet." The teen tilted his fedora to the side to block out the sun and peered down at the child, unable to resist patting the fluffy head of hair once more. "Come on, let's just walk around the city until we see something we want to do."

Tsuna simply agreed, allowing himself to be dragged away from his home. He was too ecstatic to care about anything else but the person next to him. Shaking his head fondly, Reborn believed he was well aware of what the other was thinking, of all those thoughts that were running through the brunet's head. In the end, he didn't bother to do anything to snap the other out of his daydream; he liked seeing Tsuna so cheerful. But that still left him with the question of where to go. He honestly hadn't thought through much of his idea before impetuously heading toward Tsuna's house and had been hoping that the brunet would have a suggestion as to what they would do for the day. However, _that_ plan was thrown out of the window since he had, somehow, completely forgotten that the child would agree with anything he said without question.

As they left the neighborhood and entered the busy shopping streets of Namimori, Reborn noticed Tsuna tightening his hold around his arm – almost painfully – but didn't make a comment on it. 'Guess he's still uncomfortable around large numbers of people…' Though that brought up the question as to how Tsuna was surviving in school which, inevitably, brought him closer to large groups of people around his age and even teachers. Reborn knew that he was going to have to ask about that later. With Tsuna's fear of interaction, it would seem odd that the other would be okay with school. He hadn't heard much about it from Nana so far. 'I guess I'll _really_ have to ask about this when we get back.'

When they turned the corner of a street, passing through a mass of people, Tsuna suddenly froze, a gasp escaping his lips. At first, the teen blinked in confusion, not sure of exactly what was going on, until he followed the other's gaze towards a group of three boys that were around Tsuna's age. They were still quite a distance from the two but were coming their way. The three boys were talking with each other, laughing loudly, unaware of the pair's staring.

"R-Reborn, let's go this way…" The brunet tried to cross the street, not wanting to get into a confrontation with the other school boys. He had always been against violence, after all. Glaring at the group, Reborn reluctantly followed along, keeping a mental note to investigate the matter once Tsuna and he were alone. If it was what he thought it was, there was going to be hell to pay for that little group. His once peaceful face donned a sinister expression for a moment and Tsuna, his eyes looking in front of him, didn't notice the menacing aura that suddenly surrounded his friend. People on the street backed away in fear of the evil look that was in the teen's eyes. After they had turned a few more corners, Reborn slowed down and Tsuna relaxed his grip.

"Tsuna, why are you avoiding those boys?" He immediately asked, keeping his eyes on the incoming crowd. He navigated the boy around all the people before stopping in front of a cake store, which seemed to be a good place to talk. Although Tsuna's eyes had lit up when he saw the cakes, the child winced at the question that had been directed at him. The brunet froze on the spot, shoulders slumping downward.

It was obvious that Tsuna wasn't very comfortable with this subject but that didn't stop Reborn from wanting to know the truth of the matter. "W-Well, they don't like me very much… That's all."

The black-haired teen raised an eyebrow at the way Tsuna had phased his words and shook his head. He nudged the other inside the shop, heading over to a table that was far away from the door, and sat down. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to fool me." Tsuna flinched at those words, knowing that he had been found out. "But I won't push you any further on this issue until later. Right now, we're supposed to be enjoying ourselves."

The brunet nodded his head thankfully and reached for the menu, his eyes scanning over the numerous cakes that were listed. Each and every one of them looked delicious and he wished that he had the ability to try them all. While he continued to look over them, Reborn had ordered their drinks when the waitress had come by, water for Tsuna and an espresso for himself. The once gloomy mood that had fallen over them began to lift. "I like this one." Tsuna smiled while pointing to a picture of a white chocolate mousse cake that was shown on the menu.

"Oh? Well then, why don't you choose mine? We can split them so that we can taste them both." Reborn smirked and lifted up his cup when he saw the waitress come back with their drinks. The steaming liquid felt nice against his lips and he stared at Tsuna, who had perked up upon hearing what he had said. He had to admit that it didn't take much effort to get Tsuna to feel happy. He could sense himself relax; the espresso was good, something he was glad for, and he took quiet sips of the hot drink before putting it back down. Suddenly, he stood up. "Tsuna, I'll be right back. If the waitress comes when I'm away, just tell her what you want, alright?"

"Okay…" Tsuna didn't lift his eyes up to see where Reborn was going as he was so preoccupied with picking the perfect cake. There were so many to choose from… His ears registered Reborn moving away from the table, his shoes clicking with every step he took on the tiled floor, the sound slowly disappearing into the back of the cafe. As the brunet continued to glance over the multitude of cakes on offer, the front door rang loudly, letting everyone know that someone had either just entered or left the shop. Tsuna barely noticed, being so engrossed with the menu.

Out of the blue, a hand appeared in his vision, blocking his view and snapping him from his concentration.

"Huh?" Tsuna blinked questionably, not sure of what was going on. Before he realized where the hand had come from, the menu was ripped forcefully out of his hands. His large honey-colored eyes glanced upward, following the hand until it stopped at the face. He squeaked in terror.

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna, what are you doing here in this girly shop, hmm?"

"Um… W-Well…" The brunet held back his tears, not expecting the bullies he had seen on the street to follow him all the way here. Trying to back away, he found himself cornered as another boy appeared behind him, forcing him to remain in his seat. A couple of customers turned their way, watching the scene. The waitresses whispered among each other but didn't do anything to stop what was happening. Tsuna didn't reply to the question and stared down instead. His hands were bunched together in his lap, shaking in dread.

The boy standing beside him grinned and placed a rough hand on Tsuna's shoulder, squeezing him painfully. "Hey, why don't you treat us to some food? You obviously have plenty to spare for some friends, right?"

"I-I…" Tsuna stopped when he saw the third boy go around and flop into Reborn's seat. Staring across at him, the third boy glanced down at the espresso and moved it aside, almost knocking it over.

"Dame-Tsuna, pay attention." The first boy commanded. He grasped the brunet's left shoulder and yanked it brutally. Tsuna winced and bit his bottom lip; tears began to well up in his eyes and they threatened to fall. No… He wouldn't, he couldn't cry now…

"Hey, you're in my seat." A low voice broke through the silence and suddenly, there came a kick at the third bully's seat. Glancing up with watery eyes, Tsuna spotted Reborn standing over him with his dark eyes narrowed dangerously, glowering at the group. Everyone in the room went quiet, watching the scene in interest. The teen had his hands in his pockets and was glaring hatefully at the boy below him, his fedora tilted to the side. The bully didn't move. "Did you not hear me? That's my seat. Get out."

That finally snapped the third bully out of his trance and he smirked. He motioned to the first boy, who was sporting the same nasty smirk, to pat Tsuna on the shoulder. "Oh, please, Dame-Tsuna and I are best friends, we're just talking. You can come back later when we're done."

Reborn reached up to grab his fedora, plucking it off his head with one hand. His somewhat spiky hair sprung up and his curly sideburns bounced for a moment. A couple of squeals came from the female customers as they stared at the unexpectedly attractive teen. Tsuna remained still, watching as if mesmerized, until the fedora suddenly came down over his face. Squeaking at the sudden darkness, his fingers grabbed the rim of the fedora, trying to rip it off, but the other wouldn't allow him, keeping his hand there. After a while, Tsuna surrendered, not sure what Reborn was up to. Reborn hummed in approval before turning his attention back on the boy in his seat, who continued to sit there defiantly. "I'm not going to repeat it again."

"And what are you going to do? Whi-"

The bully didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as he was abruptly sent flying with a broken nose. He landed on the ground, sliding along the tiles, and skidded to a stop four feet away, almost hitting a couple who were at another table. Reborn huffed, flexing his hand, and turned to glare at the other two. "Scatter before I decide to take care of you too."

For a moment, the two bullies stood there in shock, before they scrambled over to their fallen friend. Tsuna stared at them with wide eyes; he had managed to pull the fedora upward just enough so that he could see what was happening. All the fear he had been feeling fell away so that nothing but relief remained. Reborn was here – that was all he needed to know to know that he would be safe. The brunet was about to send a smile the other's way before he saw something happening behind Reborn's back.

"Reborn! Behind you!" The brunet called out, clasping his hands over his mouth in fear. Instantly, the teen dropped to the side, dodging a glass bottle that had been taken from the nearby table. A collected number of gasps came from the other people in the room. "Reborn…" Tsuna clutched the fedora tightly in his hands after taking it off, a tear trailing down his cheek.

Turning around, Reborn sneered, staring at the one who had dared to do such a thing, to _him_ of all people. His other hand emerged from his pocket and he started to crack his knuckles – it had been a long time since he'd been this pissed off. "The hell? I was going to let you go but you just had to go and piss me off." He grinned menacingly, stepping closer to the three. "I'm going to have to teach you a lesson, aren't I?"

Everyone watched, frozen to their positions; it was like they were watching a television show that they couldn't bring themselves to turn away from. They just continued to stare, doing nothing to resolve the situation. Suddenly, the front door opened for the first time after the bullies had walked in, the bell chiming merrily. No one paid any attention to the newcomers.

"Huh? Reborn, is that you?" A female voice called out, startling everyone out of their trances and causing them to turn to those who were at the door.

The black-haired teen twisted to face the woman and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. Her hand had risen up to her mouth, surprised at what she was seeing, the flower tattoo on her face distinctly unique. "Luce?" His eyes then trailed to the person standing beside the female leader of their group. The blond hair was a giveaway, as were the bright blue eyes staring straight back at him in question and curiosity, examining the situation with a raised eyebrow. "Colonello…"

"Oi, Reborn, are you seriously picking on some bratty kids? Isn't that kinda low?" The blond stepped forward, moving past Luce to stand in front of the three bullies, staring at them briefly and then at Reborn. His eyes remained on the boy with the glass bottle, keeping a wary eye out for that one. "What's going on, kora?"

Reborn didn't say anything, but instead motioned his head toward Tsuna. His two friends spotted the brunet at the table, honey-colored eyes red and large. Tsuna was obviously scared to death and his fingers had turned white from gripping Reborn's hat so hard. Crying out at the sight of the pitiful child, Luce rushed forward and carefully wrapped her arms around the brunet, crooning comforting words into Tsuna's left ear. Tsuna seemed to relax a bit at the hug, still sniffling softly. Colonello's blue eyes narrowed at the scene playing out before him and he rotated back to pin a ferocious glare on the little group of three, his blue orbs darkening in color. "Allow me to help you."

"I don't need your help." Reborn huffed, stepping towards the group, his shoes clacking. The boy with the bottle tried to strike him again but the teen caught the bully's hand while it was in mid-swing and tightened his grip around it agonizingly. A cry came from the boy and his grip on the bottle slackened.

Reaching down, Colonello picked up the only bully who had remained unharmed and jerked him close to his face. Over the two years since Tsuna's first meeting with Reborn's friends, the little brunet had gotten close to each and every one of them to the point where most of them, other than Verde and sometimes Mammon, would do almost anything to make him smile. It was obvious that each person had become increasingly attached to the brunet – it was hard not to. "Let me rephrase that, kora. No one harms a friend of mine and gets away with it so I'm going to help regardless of what you say." He proceeded to grab the second bully with the broken nose and lifted them both up into the air with ease before dragging them outside.

"Whatever you say." Reborn chuckled, getting his arms around the boy whose arm he was holding. The bottle had finally dropped to the ground but remained unbroken, rolling back and forth until it finally came to a stop. The teen was preparing to drag the bully out the front door, copying the actions of his blond friend, who was waiting just outside. As Reborn reached for the door handle, he stopped to glance back at the two at the table. "Luce, I'm leaving Tsuna in your hands. Colonello and I are going to teach these assholes a lesson. Be right back."

The female nodded in return, refusing to leave Tsuna's side. "You can count on me. Oh, and have fun. Please put in some extra punishment for me. You too, Colonello."

"Will do." With that, the two teens disappeared, the door chiming once more. Luce pulled away from the hug to grab a nearby chair, dragging it over so that she could sit instead of kneeling down. She wrapped her arms over Tsuna's shoulders, pulling the brunet closer to her body. "Are you okay?" Running a hand through the untamable caramel-colored hair, she could see the boy's grip on the fedora loosening up even more, but the brunet still refused to let it go.

Tsuna nodded his head from within her embrace.

"That's good. Now, don't worry about those horrible people. Reborn and Colonello will make sure that they pay dearly for what they did to you." Luce decided to keep quiet about what those two were _really_ going to do to them. She knew that it was best not to tell the brunet just how those bullies were going look by the time her friends were through with them. To be honest, it had been a long time since she had seen Reborn so rifled up like that. Hardly anything could get the other to react when something happened, and yet Tsuna could bring out that fiercely overprotective side of Reborn so easily. She stared at the brunet questionably, and then smiled. 'Well, he's just too adorable to ignore. Even Colonello couldn't help but want to fight after seeing what had happened.' She continued to pat Tsuna's hair gently, ignoring all their surroundings. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal, though a few people glanced over uncertainly at the two. "Tsuna…"

The brunet looked up, blinking his large eyes. They were still red.

"I'm going to ask you something and I want you to answer it honestly. Can you do that?" Luce whispered, somewhat tightening her grip.

"O-Okay…"

"Good… Now, tell me, does this happen often? This bullying?"

Tsuna didn't reply and instead, glanced down at his hands. Luce tilted her head, already figuring out the answer from his actions but still wanting to hear it from the boy himself. Slowly, the child nodded his head, clutching the fedora once more.

"I see. At school?"

He nodded again.

Luce narrowed her eyes at that. She would need to have a talk with Reborn on this matter, to make sure that it never happened again. She hated seeing the poor thing sad and in tears; it broke her heart to see such a sight.

"Um… Excuse me?"

The female glanced up at the waitress who had come to their table and blinked her eyes in question. A spark of emotion flashed through her dark blue orbs and as she eyed the person before her, anger boiled up inside. "Yes? What is it?"

The waitress flinched at her harsh tone and slowly lifted her hands up, a pen in one hand and a pad in the other. "Well, I was wondering what you'd like to have."

A few long seconds passed in silence before Luce snapped. After all of that, how could they have just sat there and done _nothing_! Watched as a poor boy got bullied? Tsuna blinked as he heard the girl he was holding onto start scolding everyone around the room and slowly, a smile slipped onto his lips. He had never been defended by anyone before; it was a nice change. He closed his eyes, burying his face into Luce's shoulder, able to hear her words as clear as day. There were stutters and apologies coming from the surrounding people and Tsuna could make them out easily. He didn't bother to say anything, holding onto Luce tightly. Right now, he was comfortable where he was and he didn't want to move away yet. He had to admit that, besides his meeting with the bullies, everything had been perfect, and today had turned out more than just alright.

"Tsuna?"

The brunet snapped his eyes open and glanced up curiously. Staring at the female with his large honey-colored eyes, he tilted his head, waiting for her question.

"What would you like to order? We should get something while we're waiting for the others to return." Luce smiled and immediately placed her order before looking back at Tsuna, wondering what his was going to be. The brunet bit his bottom lip, trying to remember what he had decided on, and let his eyes drift to the menu. He brightened when the order suddenly came back to him. Smiling, he asked for the two dishes, watching as the waitress ran off, looking slightly pale from the stern lecture she had gotten. The female next to him gave him a confused look, wondering if he was really going to eat two orders all by himself. "Why'd you order that last one? Are you planning on eating it? Oh, you gluttonous boy!"

Tsuna shook his head at that, despite not being sure of what the word 'gluttonous' meant, his spiky hair flying at the movement. "W-Well, Reborn asked me to choose for him a cake he might like. And anyway, we're splitting it in half to share."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Cooing, Luce smiled brightly, clapping her hands together. "You're so lucky to have someone that cares so much for you. You know, Reborn rarely shows this many emotions to anyone, even us."

"Really?" The brunet blinked at that. He didn't get it – Reborn was cold? That didn't sound right… The teen was always kind to him.

Luce nodded. "Yep, at school, he doesn't really interact with anyone unless they come up to him themselves. He's more open with us, but with everyone else, there's always this… how to say this… wall…" She held her hands up, sliding them up and down in the air between herself and Tsuna, trying to illustrate her point. "It separates him from the other students and teachers. We can make our way around it to get to him, but on the other hand, you can destroy it easily without having to do very much at all."

Tsuna scrunched up his face, clueless. "I don't… really think so. He acts open to my mom and brother too."

"Ah, but not as much as he does with you. You'll see it eventually. Maybe when you get older."

When their conversation finished, she called for a waitress so that she could order a piece of cake on Colonello's behalf. It wouldn't be right if everyone but him got something. She wasn't entirely sure what he would enjoy the most, but getting something was always better than having nothing. Tsuna blinked his eyes, wiping them gently on his shirt, and watched as wet splotches appeared on his sleeve. His vision, which had been slightly blurry due to his tears, cleared up and he reached for his glass of water with trembling hands. But before he even managed to touch the cold glass, Luce had pushed it closer, plonking a straw inside so that all he had to do was lean over. She gave him an all-knowing smile when Tsuna peered at her, and placed her hands on her lap, patiently waiting for the two male teens to come back.

It didn't take long for the waitress to return, carrying four plates, each with a different type of cake. After setting them down, she left again, only to come back with two more glasses of water and a knife. Holding the knife in one hand, Tsuna wondered how to split the two cakes evenly and stared cautiously at the sharp edge of it. In the end, Luce was the one who cut the cake; she didn't want the brunet to hold such a dangerous item anyway.

"So, Luce, why did you come here?" Tsuna watched the other cut through the cakes as evenly as possible before she switched the pieces between the plates.

"Ah, well, I wanted to pick up some cake to share with the others tomorrow at school and Colonello offered to come with me. I believe the others are in their own homes right now, unless they left to go out somewhere. This is one of the best places that sell cakes so we came here. And then, well, you know what happened next when we came in. Still, I'm quite glad we came across you when we had. We got to see the two of you together and Reborn protecting his little darling." Luce chuckled, nudging Tsuna's plate towards the child and pushing the other over to where Reborn's now cold espresso sat.

"D-Darling?" Tsuna whispered, confusion written all over his face. He hoped that Luce would go further and explain it to him but she didn't. Instead, the female picked up her fork, twisting it in her fingers before cutting off a piece of pink-colored cake and plopping it into her mouth. At once, a squeal escaped her lips; she was delighted by how good it was. Staring at his cake, Tsuna wanted nothing more than to try a piece of it, but he first wanted to wait for Reborn to come back. It wouldn't feel right without the other beside him.

Just as that thought passed through his mind, the door bell chimed. Instantly, he snapped his head up to look over at the area, a large smile making its way onto his face. Reborn had returned, looking as if nothing was wrong, and Colonello was right behind him, a smug look on his face. The older black-haired teen eyed the table, the dark expression he had been wearing lightening up when he saw Tsuna smiling, and went over to sit down next to the brunet. His eyes looked over the child and nodded in approval; Tsuna appeared much better than before.

"My fedora…" Reborn pointed to the item that was cradled protectively in the brunet's arms. The other blinked, then stared down at it, before grinning and moving away, sticking out his tongue. Huffing at his response, Reborn reached over to pinch a puffed out cheek, pulling at it until Tsuna cried out and surrendered the hat over to him.

"Meanie…" Pouting, Tsuna tended to his red cheek, feeling the burn.

"Oh, hush. You deserve it." Reborn placed the fedora back onto his head, liking the sense of familiarity it gave him, before focusing his attention on what was on the table. Examining the two half-pieces of cake in front of him, he poked them gently with his fork, wondering what the second piece was. "I take it that these are for me."

"Yep!" Tsuna grinned, swinging his feet as he sat in his chair. "You got half of mine, which is the white chocolate mousse cake, and half of a tiramisu."

Colonello, in the meantime, had taken his own seat after dragging a chair over and had started to eat his own cake. Luce had actually gone ahead and ordered another slice since she had already finished with her first one. Reborn smirked and took the first bite of his tiramisu, licking his lips at the familiar taste. It had been a while since he'd had this dessert; it was truly a nice reminder of home, of Italy. Tsuna, seeing that Reborn had started eating, began on his own slice, almost devouring it like Luce had, and was finished before the black-haired teen took his fourth bite.

"Oh my, Tsuna, would you like to get another piece?" Luce smiled, starting on her third one, before realization dawned on her that Reborn was the one paying for him. The corners of her mouth turned downward slightly. "Oh, wait. Reborn is paying, right? So I guess it's up to him."

"It's fine. Order whatever you like. I don't care as long as you don't order the whole building to devour, alright." The teen huffed and continued to eat. The cake was too sweet for his taste and he could see that Colonello was thinking the same thing. He couldn't deny that it tasted great and that it was okay to have some of it every once in a while, but he could never eat this kind of thing continuously. Still, just from seeing Tsuna's bright smile, he could swear that the food tasted better than before.

"Yay! Thanks, Reborn." The brunet smiled, searching through the menu for another piece.

Colonello chuckled and leaned over, just about to finish his first slice of cake. He peered at Luce and smirked. "Luce, you're going to get fat if you keep eating like that."

Smack!

Tsuna glanced up when he heard the sound, flinching at its suddenness, and blinked at the scene before him. He saw Colonello bent over, cradling his head in pain, and Luce grumbling something under her breath, holding up one hand threateningly. Meanwhile, Reborn was… Tsuna paused to take in the sight. Reborn was chuckling, eyes closed, with one hand fisted over his mouth to keep the sound from escaping.

It was at that moment that Reborn glanced over at him. When he saw Tsuna's large honey-colored eyes observing him, he broke out into a smile; a smile that simply brimmed of happiness. It took Tsuna's breath away.

It was the first time that he had ever seen Reborn so happy.

And he was glad that the smile was only for him.


	6. Year Six

Reborn was at long last graduating from high school. And hell, he was glad about it. He could finally be free of school; though it would only be for a short time before he had to head off to college to start his degree, he was going to celebrate nonetheless. It was better than nothing and at least that part of his life would be over and done with. Since he was eighteen, he could now do _almost_ anything he wanted, which was good enough for his purposes.

Holding his diploma in one hand, he grumbled at the ridiculous clothes he had been forced to wear for this special occasion; he'd picked at it through the entire ceremony. He didn't like them at all, it wasn't his style. The disgusting baggy blue robe that covered his body went all the way to his ankles and the string of the matching hat was annoyed him when it kept falling into his face. All in all, he had to admit that he looked horrible dressed like this. Reborn so wanted to have his fedora back and his regular clothes out, which he was currently wearing underneath the robe. He just didn't feel like himself without them. His friends surrounded him, chattering to one another, most of them graduating as well except for Skull and Colonello, who were a year younger. Parents had gathered for many of the other students, hugging and congratulating them for getting so far; some were even crying. There were periodic flashes of cameras going off and some loud cries here and there as students hugged one another, as if it were the last time they would see each other.

Reborn sighed quietly to himself as he watched the crowds and his friends talk enthusiastically. Not having his family present since he was living on his own in Japan, he was in the same state as his friends, who were exchange students. In fact, they were all planning on heading to the same college that was in the area. He had actually been tempted not to come to the graduation ceremony and just let the school mail his diploma to his apartment but Nana had caught him. She hadn't demanded, no, she had _forced_ him to come with the silent threat in her eyes, something that had scared him since the birthday incident. Turning back to his friends, he paid some attention to their conversations and said a few words of his own on occasion to let them know he was still listening. Some people passed by, greeting the group shortly, mostly congratulating them, before heading off.

"Reborn!"

The teen froze at the sound of his name being called, eyes widening for a moment, before he rotated around to see a little brown puffball running up to him as fast as his feet could carry him. Almost unconsciously, a small smile appeared on his face at the sight and he kneeled down to be at eye-level with the other. Tsuna beamed at this but didn't slow down from a sprint, instead he picked up his pace, fully intending to tackle the other to the ground if he could. Reborn, having seen this coming, held his ground and wrapped his arms around the small body as Tsuna crashed into him, preventing himself from falling back. Giggles were issuing from the bundle in his arms and as he felt Tsuna nuzzling deeper into his warmth, he reached up to tenderly pat the caramel-colored hair. "Hey, what are you doing here, Tsuna?"

"What do you think, Reborn?" A voice came from not too far away. He could hear a pair of footsteps getting closer to him, and the two on the ground automatically glanced up. Iemitsu and Nana were standing there holding each other with a smile on their faces while Giotto remained close by, arms folded and keeping a sharp eye on his little brother, as always. He was still the overprotective older brother and ever since the bullying incident last year, his protective instincts had only strengthened. No one messed with Tsuna and got away with it. At present, the blond was glancing around the area, knowing that this would be happening to him in four years. Meanwhile, Iemitsu gave Reborn a thumbs-up, like he was applauding the black-haired teen, as Nana continued to smile brightly. "We came to see you, of course. There was no way in hell we were going to miss this once-in-a-lifetime event." The man then turned to the rest of the group, who were all dressed the same as Reborn. "We came here for you guys too. You're just as much family to us as Reborn is. You're all invited for dinner tonight; Nana here is going to make a feast for all of you."

Reborn shook his head at Iemitsu's typical behavior. The man always did such things, though, on the inside, he was glad that someone had at least come for him. "Thank you."

Everyone else had the same expressions, each one happy that at least someone was here for them and had genuine congratulations to give. They would probably have to call home later to tell their own parents the good news.

A tug at Reborn's sleeves caught his attention, pulling him away from the Sawada parents, and to Tsuna, who was smiling vibrantly, clutching something behind his back. It didn't take much for Reborn to figure out what that something was since the end of it poked out obviously. "Here Reborn! I brought you your hat." The brunet took a few steps back to put some distance between them, enough so that he could take out the fedora from its hiding spot. Staring at the other blankly, Tsuna made a funny face, which in turn caused Reborn to narrow his eyes in suspicion. "You know…" The child started, tilting his head, still holding the fedora outward. "You look funny without it… and in the blue square hat thingy…"

The teen snorted and pinched a cheek but he quickly tossed the graduation hat away, no longer in need of it. There came an indignant cry behind him; apparently the hat had hit some poor guy in the face. Disregarding the problem, Reborn proceeded to put on his usual hat, liking the familiar sensation the fedora brought to him. It made him feel more like himself. Continuing to ignore everything that was going on in the background, not really caring all that much, he gave a smile towards the child. "Ah, there we go. Much better. Thanks, Tsuna."

Tsuna nodded and watched as Reborn stood back up to talk to his parents. Deciding to clutch onto Reborn's arm tightly, he peered at the group that was standing around him with large eyes. Many of Reborn's friends had gathered closer to converse with one another and a few of them said hello to him. Fong and Luce were especially nice; they had knelt down to ask him how he had been, as well as any other questions that came to mind. Tsuna, more open with them, smiled cutely and replied. But eventually, the two got called away, leaving the child by himself; Giotto was already distracted by the surroundings.

During that time, Tsuna glanced around the crowded area curiously. He saw similar clothes on everyone graduating and watched as their families hugged and kissed them repeatedly all over. Tilting his head at the show of affection, his eyes briefly trailed up to Reborn for a split second then back to the other families. There was more hugging and kissing and he tilted his head further in confusion before finally making a connection between the two.

His eyes went back to Reborn, who was still talking with everyone, and he tugged at a sleeve, wanting to get the other's attention again. Glimpsing at him in curiosity, Reborn knelt down once more and placed a hand on top of Tsuna's head, patting it and liking the silky feeling of it as he ran his fingers through the strands.

"What is it, Tsuna?"

Tsuna just stared into his black eyes, not yet answering.

This made the teen raise an eyebrow and move closer. This drew the attention of everyone, the group going silent to observe. "Tsuna?"

The child stared for a little bit longer before leaning forward… and kissing Reborn straight on the lips.

It was a quick peck and didn't even last a second but it got its results.

Reborn, clearly not expecting such a thing, collapsed, landing hard on his ass, and looked wide eyed at the others in a mixture of shock and confusion. There was a light tint of pink on his cheeks but it was well hidden under his fedora. He gaped at Tsuna, trying to register what had just happened, and went silent, mouth hanging open slightly.

Iemitsu and Nana started cooing from the side, both finding the scene incredibly cute and adorable. Giotto blinked his eyes in surprise and when he saw Reborn's expression, couldn't help but start laughing. He honestly hadn't expected for such a thing to occur but it was great nonetheless. This was the first time he had ever seen the other so flabbergasted and flustered.

Reborn's friends were staring in shock for a moment or two before Colonello erupted into laughter, the rest following quickly behind. Luce had a wide smile on her face with two hands clasped over her mouth, while Fong had raised a hand up to his lips to hide his chuckles, turning slightly to the side. Viper and Verde just stared but there were obvious signs in their expressions of the humor they were finding in the incident. Lal had her arms crossed and an eyebrow rose at the scene, not really sure on how to react. Skull was laughing as well, pointing to them, tears starting to fall from his eyes.

Managing to pull his shattered composure together, Reborn swallowed, well aware of the attention they were getting. "Um… Tsuna… Why did you do that?"

"Kiss?" Tsuna asked innocently, not sure what he had done wrong. He thought it was customary since he had seen everyone else do it and just believed it was… _normal_.

The teen huffed. "Yes, kiss. Why did you _kiss_ me?"

The child tilted his head and turned to the direction of the other families that were in the area. "I thought I was supposed to do it. Everyone else was so I thought it was what you were supposed to do."

Reborn sighed and slanted his fedora in the opposite direction, hoping that that would help hide his blush better. "Well, you're supposed to give a kiss to someone you like or to family members."

There were some snickers in the background but they both ignored it, though Reborn did twitch now and then in anger. He was going to have to get back at them later - painfully.

Still, that answer didn't help Tsuna at all as he blinked in question and felt a little hurt. With the way that Reborn had phrased his answer, Tsuna had translated it to the meaning of the teen not liking him. "But I like you and consider you to be family…" His expression abruptly transformed and he sniffed, looking like he was about to cry. Reborn paled a little at the sight, not expecting him to take it _that_ way. "Does that mean… you don't like me?"

Reborn mentally cursed using every word he knew and was tempted to face palm in dismay. The others around him were snickering louder than before, however, Giotto did throw a glare at him for almost making Tsuna cry. Knowing that he was going to have to rephrase that response better, the black-haired teen shook his head and tried again, hoping to get his point across this time. Hopefully, Tsuna wasn't _that_ oblivious. "No, I like you. I meant 'like' in a _different_ way."

Tsuna was confused enough to delay his crying; only sniffing a few times. "I don't get it." He stared at Reborn with wide eyes, waiting for the answer. The teen sighed, shoulders slumping in _near_ defeat. Apparently, that hope had been for nothing as the brunet didn't even know what the term _love_ meant. Tsuna continued to speak. "Is it bad to give a kiss to someone? Does that mean you won't kiss me back?"

This time, Reborn's face blew up into a bright tomato red and he reached up to cover his face. He could hear his friends laughing even louder at his horror and Giotto was bending over, clutching his stomach, about to fall to the ground. The teen groaned quietly in defeat, finding no way out of this, and leaned over to place a kiss onto Tsuna's forehead after brushing back a couple of bangs. He wanted to get this over and done with so that he could chase after his friends for laughing at him; however, fate wasn't on his side today.

Tsuna pouted, staring up into black eyes. He looked around once more at the other families, examining them for a second, and then back Reborn. He pointed a finger at his lips. "Isn't it supposed to be on the lips?"

This time, Reborn groaned out loud, bending his fedora further down to hide his darkening complexion, if that was even possible. There was more laughter and some people were beginning to stop to watch what was going on, curiosity getting the better of them. Reborn just couldn't believe how this was happening and to him of all people. The brunet continued to watch inquisitively, head still tilted to the side, and persisted in waiting for the teen's response.

Biting his bottom lip, Reborn leaned over one last time to give Tsuna a kiss, this time on the lips. He made it as quick as he could and retreated, staring at the ground in humiliation. Who knew that a mere kid would be able to do so much to him? Much less force him to do things he rarely did with anyone else.

Tsuna blinked as the kiss ended before breaking out into a full grin and tackling Reborn once more. He landed on Reborn's chest, wrapping his arms firmly around the teen's waist, and rubbed his face against the warm body happily. Squealing in joy, he tightened his grasp, not knowing what the true meaning behind a kiss meant since he was so young. He wasn't even aware that this was his first kiss.

The Sawada parents were 'awing' at the scene and Iemitsu walked forward to place a large hand on Reborn's shoulder. He had a wide grin on his face, an indication to Reborn that he was going to regret hearing whatever the older man had to say. "Now, Reborn, make sure you treat him kindly from now on."

"Iemitsu…" There was a growl from the teen, promising death to anyone who mentioned or ever whispered a word about this again. He twisted to glare at his little group of friends, making them freeze to their spot as shivers ran down their spine, before turning back to Tsuna, who continued to hug him securely as if nothing was wrong.

Sighing, he decided to drape his arms around the child, returning the hold, well aware of the muffled cry of happiness that Tsuna made in reply.

To think that he could be manipulated by a child so easily; and yet, he didn't feel so bad about it at all.


	7. Year Seven

Another year has passed but this one was different than the others, very different. Tsuna found himself extremely bored throughout the entire year, almost like he was wasting, and wanted nothing more than for time to quicken its ever slow pace. School wasn't all that different from any other year, and he was still alone during class since it was rare for anyone to hang out with him.

He was known as Useless Tsuna to everyone but slowly it was turning to No-Good Tsuna and because of that, everyone avoided him like a plague. He sucked at sports, always being the last to be picked simply because everyone knew that if he was on their team, they would automatically lose. He can only make decent grades from the tutoring he got from his older brother and sometimes Reborn but it wasn't enough. He was also clumsy, dropping and breaking things to the point that even the teachers and other students didn't want him to carry anything.

Not only that, he still was getting beaten up, though it wasn't as common as before since the incident from last year. Reborn and Giotto had forced Alaude, a friend of his brother's, to thrash anyone if they dared lay a finger on him, something Alaude was glad to go along with purely because it meant he could hurt people. In result, he was avoided even more in fear of getting killed but in the end, Tsuna was fine with that. He has always been alone in school, now made no difference. Still, even with all that was happening to him, he recognized a lot of things that occurred in school, perhaps more so than anyone else because of the way he just hung back and watched everyone else.

The most common person that _everyone_ in school knew was Hibari Kyoya, the head of the disciplinary committee. He was the one that generally enforced the law around the school, mainly through threats and violence, and he always got what he wanted. Hibari ruled the place with an iron fist, _literally_. He wasn't that different from his older brother, Alaude.

Tsuna, in fact, knew Alaude quite well due to the reality that _his_ older brother, Giotto, hanged out with the blond quite often and saw him around the house once in a while. Now that Tsuna mentioned it, he knew all about his brother's friends since he tended to listen in on them and their conversations without meaning to except for that Spade one, who was rarely around but did show up every blue moon. Still, Tsuna didn't get along with any of them, the age difference mostly driving them apart.

After all, most boys didn't want to hang out with someone younger than themselves especially those that were still in middle and elementary school. The only exceptions were family members and girls. Many girls in his class gloated that they were dating someone from high school or in a higher grade. Tsuna never paid much attention to them and generally ignored everything when they started talking about those things.

Anyway, back to his brother's friends. Ugetsu Asari was a close friend of Giotto's that actually visited very often along with someone else. He was one of the few people that Tsuna was at least comfortable enough to sit in the same room with and not try to find a way to escape. The reason for that was that Asari always had a smile on his face and was friendly with each person when talking. Even when there were fights going on around him, he kept that calm attitude. Though there were times when Tsuna has spotted the other frowning about some matter, and that was when the brunet felt uncomfortable. The way Asari's eyes would narrow and switch his personality didn't settle all too well with him.

Asari had a cousin named Yamamoto Takeshi, who is a star baseball player in Tsuna's school and is often surrounded by his fans and the girls constantly. As normality to all those that went to his school, Yamamoto was usually confessed to twice a day and was asked out about the same number of times even by older students. Essentially, Tsuna has the same class with him but never bothered to communicate with the other, not that he would have a chance to. Those fans were nuts and he wasn't going to get into the fray.

Now that he thought about, a lot of Giotto's friends had a relative or two in his school (with an exception of two) that was quite well known… no, wait, they all were. They were all either popular or known by name or even both.

Back to Giotto's friends once more, there was one person that Tsuna wasn't very sure about and that was this Spade person he had mentioned further up. He knew the full name was Daemon Spade and quite honestly, Spade scared Tsuna shitless whenever he appeared. The brunet never knew when the other was around because he would just materialize out of thin air like a magician then vanish before he knew it. He had never talked to Spade once, however, that didn't stop him from accidently listening in. Tsuna knew that the other had two younger twin siblings that went to a neighboring school, Kokuyo.

They all had different last names, something Tsuna had quietly mentioned to people but never really got an answer back. Apparently, no one really knew and no one dared to investigate. The siblings were a dangerous little group of people. Still, the only reason he knew about the twins is that the older of the two, Mukuro, was a rival with the younger Hibari sibling and they were often seen fighting against each other, sometimes during class times. The explosions and destruction they created in their wake made it obvious when they were at it again.

Chrome, the younger one, usually followed her brother around, watching everything with one eye, the other said to be taken from an accident. She would just stand there and do nothing until the battle was over, where she would start dragging her older brother back to class. Though there were times when she participated in the mischief Mukuro caused, she rarely went into battle. But, all in all, she was generally the opposite of her brothers.

The trio is very easy to distinguish in a crowd from their shared pineapple-styled hair. Tsuna was actually the one that pointed it out but never said it to their faces since they tend to frighten him. That wasn't said to his brother however. Giotto had stared for a few seconds as he registered the words before bursting out into laugher and went for his phone, texting the news to everyone.

Later that day, the brunet witnessed Spade kicking open the front door, yelling, and tackling his brother to the ground where they began to fight. It was a common reoccurrence among the Sawadas and Tsuna just went back to eating his dinner with Nana, ignoring the shuffling behind. The first few times, the brunet had squeaked and ran to hide but when it happened so often, he figured it was best to ignore and continue whatever he was doing. Nana, of course, paid no attention to the quarrel, thinking that it was just a friendly squabble.

The second person that was seen with Giotto the most was a person named G. Tsuna wasn't sure on the full name since no one ever mentioned it and he did ask his brother about it once but Giotto would just shrug his shoulders, giving a secretive smile. He figured it was a name G didn't really like all that much. Still Tsuna had to admit that the person had the brightest colored-hair he had ever seen in his short life and there was one time he had mentioned to his brother that G's hair looked more of a pinkish hue. Giotto, of course, texted that news to everyone and a repeat battle occurred, outside this time instead of inside like with Spade. Tsuna was comfortable the most with only G since sometimes when Giotto couldn't help him with his homework, the other would step in and offer advice. That and he comes here so often that he just got used to the other.

From what Tsuna managed to overhear and see, G has a cousin named Gokudera Hayato, who goes to his school and class. Gokudera, like Yamamoto, is popular among the female population and plenty of males as well, getting plenty of gifts and confessions each day which he ignored. He is well known as a delinquent, causing trouble wherever he went, but was actually really smart. Gokudera always got the questions right even college level ones, but he always got in trouble with the teachers since he would argue back and do whatever the hell he wanted. This tended to attract the younger Hibari's attention and they would fight with the disciplinary leader winning each time.

What was strange was that Gokudera and Yamamoto were usually not too far apart from each other just like G and Ugetsu, though for the earlier case, they tend to argue quite often since Gokudera has quite the temper. Tsuna stayed away from him, far away, since he didn't want to end up getting beaten up like his other classmates that accidently or decided to piss him off. The piling amount of bodies on the side of the classroom whenever he entered didn't help either.

Sasagawa Knuckles was a person that came around every once in a while, and was really religious. And he had a very loud voice… really loud. Tsuna always knew when Knuckles came over since his voice could be heard throughout the entire house, maybe the neighborhood too, and, if G was nearby, they would start yelling at each other. The noise would just double; there were times during it that Tsuna had to cover his ears, not only from the noise but from the curses G would start sprouting.

The brunet didn't really know much about Knuckles since his brother and the other meet mostly at school. The only one he knew better was Ryohei, the younger brother. Ryohei was in a different class than him but he shared the same trait as Knuckles with the loud voice. The silver-haired teen would run around, yelling about something 'extreme' before dashing off again. Both were in the boxing club, and were similar in everything even in the way they pestered others to join. Luckily, for him, he had never been asked. The only family member that was different was the youngest sibling and only female, Kyoko, who was known as one of the nicest girls in the school. Of course, that wasn't enough to make him go near her for anything if he didn't want to get killed by the older brothers.

Lampo was another one that appeared whenever he felt like it. He had bright green hair, very eye-catching to the child, and he has a tattoo underneath his right eye. Lampo is a bit of a crybaby since Tsuna remembered hearing him multiple times wailing to Giotto in the past about something that had happened at school. Sometimes, it came from the hits he took from G, but he usually got it from the result of doing something stupid.

Though, he did notice that Lampo wasn't a big fan of kids. The teen made that obvious whenever they saw each other and would make a face even to Lampo's own younger brother, Lambo. Tsuna did find it odd that their names weren't really that far apart, only by one letter (just how creative were their parents?), but never bothered voicing it out. Like the rest of Giotto's friends' relatives, Lambo was around his age as well, very snotty and was a crybaby just like his older brother. Still, Lambo could be a nice guy when he wanted to and was popular among the girls due to his looks. But like everyone else that didn't give Tsuna any reason to go near him nevertheless.

Even with all these people that came over, Tsuna still found himself incredibly bored. The reason why? Ever since Reborn had started going to college, he's been visiting less and less often. He only saw Reborn once every few weeks and if he did somehow managed to go over to Reborn's apartment to visit, the college student would be studying or working on some sort of project that needed to be finished in a few days. That didn't really leave much for Tsuna to do, and he eventually forced himself to leave to give Reborn some quiet time to continue working.

The brunet was already feeling lonely at having no one to talk to. Giotto noticed it earlier on and tried to hang out with his younger brother as often as possible even if it meant dragging him along with his group. It never worked out no matter how many times he tried. Tsuna was absolutely terrified of most of his brother's friends and would back away or hide when he saw them, clutching to Giotto's clothes tightly, basically refusing to let go. This caused some arguments between Giotto and the others as they didn't want to have a kid following them around the entire time.

Eventually, Tsuna had to be the one to tell his brother that he didn't want to go anymore. There were times when they went out by themselves. It was quite rare for Giotto to be alone but it did happen now and then, and it was nice. His brother would take him out to places, show him things, and buy food to share between them. Tsuna found those moments wonderful but like he mentioned earlier, it was rare because sometimes his friends would come in the last moment, wanting to hang out, and, of course, Tsuna would deny going anywhere with them. Other times would be when they were just leaving the house and they would show up on the street. Giotto couldn't deny his friends from following, they would do so anyways, but regardless Tsuna would go all ridged and scared, leaving the blond no choice but to head back home to drop him off.

It didn't take long for Nana to start noticing the dejection her darling little son held over him. She tried offering him food, all his favorite kinds, but nothing she did worked in lifting his spirits. It was a sad sight to see and it broke her heart. Still, she continued to try as hard as she could.

Still, there were times when Reborn managed to show up, and he did try. It was so obvious when he ran most of the way to Tsuna's house just to have an hour or two together before rushing back home to finish things up. Sometimes if the teen was lucky and didn't have as much homework, he would complete everything he had as fast as possible before heading over to Tsuna's side and spend almost half a day with him or as much as he could.

During those times, the two would spend the entire time alone and together until Reborn had to regrettably go back. The brunet was aware enough to know that trying to beg the other to stay wasn't going to help things and he had no choice but to let the hand go, no matter how much he wanted to hold on. When they were together, Tsuna smiled a lot, acting like his old cheerful self that had went away with Reborn's absence, and the whole family (Giotto, Nana, and Tsuna) were always eager for those days to come back around.

"Everyone, its dinner time." Nana called out from downstairs, peering up to see if someone would poke their head out of their room.

The brunet, having happened to hear, pulled away from the current game he was playing, pausing it so that he wouldn't lose his spot, and exited his room. His honey-colored eyes peered down the stairs at his mother to let her know he had heard her and nodded his head. "Alright, Mom."

"Oh, and could you tell Giotto and his friends too?"

This made the brunet freeze but he nodded his head again, not as if he had a choice to deny the request, and watched as Nana disappeared behind the wall, heading back into the kitchen. Sighing, Tsuna glanced towards his brother's bedroom door and knocked on it gently twice before turning the doorknob to enter. He gazed inside to see Giotto sprawled on the floor, hidden underneath the table that was in the middle of the room with books and papers scattered all over the place. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the sight, wondering if the mess was worse than his room. He even saw a single piece of paper up on the fan. How that got there, he would never know.

G was on top of the bed, reading something, a textbook by the looks of it and was swinging his feet up and down. When he heard the knocks and the door opening, the red head glanced up for a moment to stare at the newcomer with those same eyes that made Tsuna want to shrink. He wanted nothing more than to run away right now. Still, he pushed himself further in, giving a weak smile and glanced to the next person in the room, Asari.

The black-haired teen was on the opposite side of the room, holding onto what looked like an assignment paper. The two friends continued to stare at him, wondering what he wanted and Tsuna flinched at that. He really hated it when everyone was looking at him, it made him feel so unnerved.

"What is it, Tsuna?" The blond glanced up, making sure not to bang his head on the table above him.

"M-Mom says it's time for dinner and to come down." Taking a step back, Tsuna was tempted to bolt out of the room until Giotto gave him a warm smile. His brother crawled out from his spot, putting aside his school material, and got up to his feet, stretching his body. Tsuna could hear the cracks from his spot and leaned against the door, holding onto the knob tightly.

"Alright, thanks, Tsuna. Let's go down, guys. I think we're all dying for food, right?" Giotto stepped over to his sibling, laying a gentle hand on his younger brother's shoulder as if offering comfort. He knew Tsuna well enough to know what he was thinking about. It may not be as obvious to others but he knew. Pulling the brunet closer against his body, he patted the caramel-colored locks, watching as Tsuna squirmed at his touch. He chuckled to himself, observing as the brunet scrunch up his nose and close one eye to keep his hair out. "Come on, Tsuna, you can sit by me today."

Blinking his eyes, the brunet nodded his head in approval but he couldn't help but wonder why G and Asari weren't going to be the ones to sit next to his brother. He didn't get a chance to think much on it as he was shoved out of the room. His back was pressed against his brother and he had to tilt his head up all the way to look into those bright blue eyes.

"Come on, you two." Giotto glanced back at his friends and maneuvered out the door even with Tsuna connected to him.

"Tch, we're coming." G grumbled from behind and walked out, getting in front of the two brothers. He paused to glance at the trembling brunet and smirked, reaching down to pat the head gently. A squeak escaped from Tsuna and he blinked his eyes at the show of affection, this was the first time G has ever done anything like that before. "There's no need to be scared of me, Tsuna. You should know me well enough that I won't do anything to you."

Not offering a reply, the brunet shrunk down, staring at his feet. G sighed at that, reaching back to run a hand through his hair. Asari laughed lightly with his hands on his hips before speaking. "Well, I think you're lucky. He still runs at the sight of me. The only reason he's still standing here right now is because Giotto got his hands on him."

The red head raised an eyebrow and glanced down once more at the younger sibling, who was fidgeting terribly when Asari looked at him. "What's there to dislike about you? You're the idiot that laughs so obnoxiously. You're more of an annoyance than anything else."

"How mean, G. You don't mean that."

"I mean every word, asshole."

"Guys, no cursing in front of my brother." Giotto sighed as he watched his friends bicker like usual. Eventually, he had to depart from his brother's side to try and calm the two down, leaving Tsuna to stand there and watch as the argument continued. He was leaning against the wall, slowly making his way down the stairs. He knew by now that it was best to go ahead since it would take a while before Giotto finally managed to get them apart. As he reached the bottom, the yelling got louder.

"Will you two stop that? Why is it that whenever you two are around each other you start bickering like an old married couple?"

"Wha-Take that back, fucktard!"

"Now, now, you two. Let's not fight right now."

"Oh, come on, Asari. He's talking about you too, idiot! And don't grin like some drugged up asshole!"

Tsuna decided that it was time to close his ears and wonder off before he heard something he didn't want to. As he peeked into the kitchen, he spotted his mother at the stove, putting plates together.

"Mom, Giotto-nii and his friends will be down shortly after they stop fighting." Tsuna made his way to the table, sitting at the corner, next to the spot where his mom usually sat at.

Nana rotated around, bringing over a few plates to settle it on the table. She had her usual smile and tilted her head. "Alright, dear."

Tsuna could hear the shuffling behind and watched as Giotto and his friends stumble into the kitchen. He ignored the sight of them and stared at his food that was in front of him, happily digging into it. He could hear the others still talking to each other, arguing over something, and he didn't bother listening into them instead focusing on slowly devouring the contents on his plate. He always loved his mother's cooking, it was better than anyone else's even those at restaurants. As everyone started eating their own food, Tsuna peered beside him towards an empty chair and mentally sighed. It was the seat where Reborn would sit whenever he came over. His father's seat was at the corner of the table where G is currently at and Asari right across of Giotto. Nana was across to Tsuna, smiling like always, unaware of the fighting that was going on.

Tsuna kept to himself, and quickly finished his food so that he could excuse himself from the table and head back upstairs. He went completely unnoticed by the inhabitants of the table, and disappeared behind the corner. Peering into his bedroom, he sighed and settled next to the table that was in the middle of the room. His video game was still on in the corner and he crawled towards it, pressing the start button to continue playing the game. He immediately jumped back into the action, fighting off whatever enemy that came his way, his mind temperately forgetting about Reborn.

* * *

Reborn sighed, looking over his collection of completed homework and projects that were scattered across his table. Slumping his shoulders, he was at long last done with them. A pen was in his fingers, twirling it effortlessly, and found himself bored out of his mind before glancing up at his clock, noticing the time. It was too late to head over to the Sawadas' place now. He was positive that they were all asleep since it was twelve twenty-three in the morning. Luckily for him, he didn't have class tomorrow since his professor was going out of town and he hoped that the man would be out for a couple of days to cancel the next few classes, that would be the best.

However, even with all that, when he went to bed, no matter how much he tossed and turned, he couldn't fall asleep. It was as if it eluded him. He would stare at the clock then turn away and close his eyes, hoping that he would be able to fall to darkness. But when he turned back to the clock, hoping to see it was morning already, only a few minutes has passed. By the time it came to one, he was beginning to get annoyed.

Finally giving up on going to sleep, he got out of bed and got dressed, knowing that it would be impossible now. He grabbed his shoes and keys, and went towards the front door, thinking that a walk would help calm his mind and perhaps get him a little tired. Reborn made his way down the hallway, voided of people, and entered the elevator after waiting for a few moments for it to arrive at his level. The entire trip was silent and when he entered the front desk area, he nodded to the security guard that was stationed there before exiting the place.

Reborn sighed, adjusting his fedora, and glanced around the area. No one was in sight and only a few cars passed by through the streets. The moon was glowing brightly above but he couldn't see any stars shining. Regardless, it was a beautiful night and really peaceful too.

Making his way down the streets, he placed his hands into his pockets and kept an eye out for anything strange. Bad things always happened in the dark, after all. Reborn eventually entered a small neighborhood and continued down the streets until he finally came up to a familiar house, Tsuna's. He sighed to himself, he wanted nothing more than to go in but sadly, he had forgotten to take his extra keys with him tonight. He could ring the doorbell, but that wasn't a very good idea as it would wake everyone up but he still wanted to see Tsuna.

Reborn went around the house, quietly stepping through the grass and stopped at Tsuna's window that was on the second floor. It was dark just as he expected, telling him that the child was already in bed. Looking around, he picked up a few pebbles and tossed one of them at the window.

Clack!

The stone hit the glass and he winced at the sound, hoping it wouldn't crack. Falling down, the stone rolled down the rooftop and landed onto the ground. He waited for a few moments but when no answer came, he tossed another one.

Clack!

Reborn temporarily placed his hands into his pocket since it was cold, and hugged his jacket closer to his body. He waited again before deciding the throw the final one.

Clack!

Still no answer, he huffed, shrugging his shoulders in defeat, and was about to leave when a voice called out to him.

"Re… born?"

The college student looked up to see a familiar mop of brown hair and sleepy eyes that were looking down at him. The window was opened and Tsuna was clutching to the frame to hold himself up. When he took a good look over the one below, his honey-colored eyes lighted up happily and a grin spread across his face. Reborn chuckled at the expression, waving a hand, and stepped closer, craning his neck to see the brunet better. "Hey, sorry for appearing so late. Do you mind if I come in?"

If Tsuna's eyes could get any brighter, it did. He rapidly nodded his head and slammed his window shut. Reborn chuckled, tilting his fedora to the other side, and went towards the backdoor to wait patiently. He didn't have to wait long as the door swung wide open with Tsuna standing there with a large smile on his face, looking like he was about to start bouncing on his feet.

Running forward for a hug, the brunet wrapped his arms around the other's waist, unable to keep his squeals of glee from escaping. He was so happy right now that he didn't care that it was late at night or that it was cold. Reborn chuckled again, returning the hug and ran his fingers through the messy hair. He could feel Tsuna's arms squeezing tighter against him and burying his face into his chest. It was really warm with the extra body against him, much better than before.

They remained in that position for a while before Tsuna pulled away, gazing upward into the dark eyes curiously. "Hey, Reborn… Why are you here? And this late at night?"

Reborn watched as the child rubbed his eyes tiredly, the tiredness coming back to Tsuna as the sudden spree of energy disappeared. "I couldn't sleep and happened to walk by your house. But come on, you need more sleep. Up back to bed for you." He nudged Tsuna into the house, closing the door behind him. The warmth of the building felt great, a whole lot better than being outside in the cold. There was a pout from Tsuna, but Reborn ignored it as he pushed the brunet up the stairs and into the bedroom. Closing the bedroom door behind, he took off his jacket and hanged it on a chair. His shoes came next before settling onto the bed with Tsuna.

The brunet gripped Reborn's arms, shaking his head. "I don't want to go to sleep. You're finally here… so I…"

The college student silenced him by pushing him down against the bed, a smug expression on his face. Tsuna let out a squawk, momentarily going into shock at the movement. "Don't worry, Tsuna, I'll still be here in the morning. Right now, you need to go back to sleep. You have school later today, right?"

The brunet nodded, staring up at the other.

"Then it's decided. Go back to sleep." Reborn collapsed beside Tsuna, resting his head against the pillow and stared straight at the other. His hands reached for the covers, pulling it over them, and got himself settled into the blankets. Reaching over to run a hand over Tsuna's face, he watched the honey-colored orbs start to droop downward, unable to resist. The brunet yawned and snuggled himself closer to the other, burying his face once more into Reborn's chest, and smiled happily.

Reborn just remained still for a while, observing the little bundle before him as Tsuna fell back asleep, and wrapped his arms around the small body, pulling the child closer. His fingers ran through the soft hair until he decided to close his eyes, drifting off. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip.

He was able to fall asleep at long last.

* * *

"Oh, my…" Nana covered her mouth at the sight, unable to hide the large smile that was quickly breaking out. She quietly giggled to herself and peered at Reborn and her son all cuddled up on one bed. It had to be the most adorable sight she has seen all month, maybe all year too. Reborn's fedora was on the nightstand, on top of various items that were scattered on the surface. His jacket was neatly hanging off a chair like the night before and his shoes were on the floor, next to the bed. Tsuna wiggled his nose for a moment before curling up further against the other, rubbing his face against Reborn's chest.

The mother squealed further with hearts magically floating up from her body.

The college student had his arms wrapped tightly around Tsuna's small body, pulling the other closer. His chin was buried into the caramel-colored hair, able to smell the sweet scent it emitted. Though Nana couldn't see their legs since the covers were hiding them, but she could make out the curves to know what was going on.

All in all, it was a delightful sight.

'Ah… I really can't bring myself to wake them up yet…' Nana sighed and tried to take a few steps back so that she could go for her camera. But the moment she budged from her spot, Reborn's eyes fluttered open, peering at the mother curiously. He blinked a few times to get his vision cleared up before yawning out loud, startling Nana, who went immobile. Still, Reborn didn't detach himself from Tsuna and peered down at the sleeping face before chuckling. He ran his fingers through the silky hair before bringing his attention back to Nana, who he knew was still there watching.

"Good morning, Nana." The teen laid his head against the pillow, burying his face into the softness. "Is breakfast ready?"

"Almost but I'll need some time to make another batch for you. I wasn't expecting you to show up so soon." Nana scooted closer to the pair, giggling when Tsuna made a few muttered noises under his breath and shifted closer to Reborn's body. "You both look so cute and comfortable together. But when did you arrive, Reborn?"

"Late last night." Yawning to himself, Reborn separated one arm away from the bundle to cover his mouth. It's been a while since he's been able to sleep so contentedly. He unconsciously pulled Tsuna closer to his body, feeling the fingers that were clenching into his shirt tighten as if trying not to let go. "He got up to let me in during the night since I forgot to take my keys with me. Tsuna didn't seem to mind, he was really happy to see me."

"Well, it has been a while since you've last come over, after all." Nana gradually made her way out the bedroom door, closing it behind her. She made one last peek at the two, a large smile decorating her expression, almost glowing. "Okay, I'll leave you two alone for now. Get dressed and come down in a few minutes, alright?"

"Yeah, got it." The teen watched as the door closed shut with a click before turning his attention back towards the brunet in his arms. He smirked, still running his fingers through the soft hair, and then finally pulled away when he had to shake the other awake. There was some grumbling as Tsuna shifted, squeezing his eyes tightly together, not willing to awake up nor let go. He fastened his grip around Reborn's waist and shirt, and buried his face into the warmth in front of him, taking a deep breath of the cologne the other still had on.

The college student couldn't help but smile at the response, his lips curving further upward when he noticed how cute the child was acting. It was almost a sin to wake the other up, however, it ultimately had to happen and he shook harder, getting the sleepy honey-colored orbs to flutter open. Tsuna blinked repeatedly, clearing up the blurriness, before peering up at Reborn.

There was a pause as the two stared at each other and Reborn could just see the sleepiness draining out of Tsuna's eyes. It was entertaining to say at the least. Then came a small cry that shattered that once silence. Jumping forward to tackle the other to the bed, the brunet immediately closed off the distance between their bodies, rubbing his face into the older man's chest and tightened his hold. A bright smile was on his lips and as moments passed, Tsuna relaxed slightly.

"So it wasn't a dream…" The brunet whispered to himself, grinning widely. "I thought the whole thing was nothing more than a dream, I'm so glad it wasn't."

"Oh?" The teen chuckled, patting the spiky hair and pushed himself up into a sitting position, dragging Tsuna along when he didn't let go. "I didn't know you dreamed of me, should I be honored or creep out?"

"Shut up, Reborn…" There was a pout and then some shuffling as a pillow was thrown lazily. Hiding underneath the covers, Tsuna gave a hard shove soon after since he knew the other would catch the pillow.

The college student chuckled at that, not even wincing at the punch, if it could be called that, and held onto the thrown pillow. He tossed it aside before reaching for the ends of the covers and gave a strong tug. Literally ripping the sheets away, he observed Tsuna's startled reaction greedily, large honey-colored eyes going wide in shock before going back to a pout.

"Reborn…" Tsuna whined. "You're so mean."

"Well, Nana did tell me to wake you up. She's cooking breakfast right now and if you don't hurry up soon, someone might be eating your portion up." Reborn chuckled, slipping out of bed, and stood up, stretching his body from the position he had been in all night long. He could hear some of his bones crack at the pressure and it felt so good. A sound almost escaped his lips from that and then he yawned, covering his mouth with a hand. Soon after that, he began moving around the room to gather his things and shoes, putting them on. As that went on, Tsuna literally rolled out of the bed, dropping to the floor with a loud thump, catching Reborn's attention.

"What the?" The black-haired teen blinked at the strange action with an eyebrow raised. Honey-colored orbs peered back and he noticed immediately that there was a hint of a smile deep inside. "Just what are you doing?"

"Nothing~" The grin on Tsuna's face was a dead giveaway that he was messing around and Reborn shook his head, turning around to grab his last item, his jacket. But just as he did that, he was suddenly tackled from behind, almost enough to push him off his feet. Holding in the cry that might have escaped his lips, the teen kept his feet locked onto the messy floor and when he stabilized his balance, he glanced down at the hands that were wrapped around his waist. Grumbling under his breath, he attempted to peel the hands away but alas was unsuccessful as Tsuna tightened his grip, that and Reborn wasn't really trying.

Reborn shook his head again, his hair scattering at the movement even though his fedora was on. "Tsuna, what are you doing?"

"Nothing~" The brunet stated the same thing as before, burying his face further into the other's back. "You're not going to leave soon, are you?" Standing still, Reborn sighed to himself, unconsciously patting the arms, and was eventually let go. He rotated around to rub those lovely caramel-colored locks gently and quickly finished getting dressed.

"Right now, you need to get dressed, alright? Don't worry, I'll still be here even after I leave this room."

This response seemed to put Tsuna at ease and was jumping around his room to get his scattered clothes, trying to find something that was clean. As he put together his school uniform, Reborn left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He couldn't help but chuckle once more at the way Tsuna would behave around him. It was so cute.

His eyes made out Giotto's room, empty, the other probably having left earlier. But as he peered in, he noticed something. There were extra clothes that definitely didn't fit the blond at all. The sizes were different and so were the styles. Who else had stayed over last night besides himself?

Reborn made his way down the stairs, his footsteps almost nonexistent seeing as he hardly made a noise. It was almost like he was sneaking around but the manner he walked, that definitely wasn't the reason. Stepping into the kitchen, he spotted the blond at the kitchen table, inhaling the food that was in the middle, and there were two other people beside him, recognizing both of them as G and Asari. He never really spoke to them, only seeing them around the house whenever he was around with Tsuna.

Reborn smirked, staring at the three backs before turning towards the mother of the house and gave a polite nod in her direction. Nana gave a combination of a wave and smile before going back to cooking as there were more people in the house than she had originally expected.

Iemitsu was once more gone as usual but it was almost unnoticed since the man rarely came home. Reborn hardly paid any attention to the other anymore, right now, he was more focused on the three young teenagers before him. Sneaking over, he peered down the blond, raising his hand up and then slammed it down into the spiky hair, rubbing the palm of his hand painfully into the skull.

A sharp cry echoed around the room catching everyone's attention.

Giotto growled under his breath and snapped around only to pause at the sight of Reborn. A smirk adorned the college student and he chuckled quietly to himself, tilting his head to the side. His curled sideburns bounced slightly at the movement. "Seems like someone has been having a great time without me around but that'll just have to stop for today, now won't it?"

"Where the hell did you materialize from!" The blond found himself shoving back against the table, not liking the dangerous glint in Reborn's eyes.

"Through the front, no, wait, back door like any normal person. I came creeping through the night just so that I can see your face in the morning in pain."

"Through the night?" Giotto made a face at that though was grumbling under his breath at the last sentence, rubbing his head. "Who let you in? Surely I would have heard the doorbell."

"I didn't ring the doorbell and Tsuna did." Reborn wrapped his arms around the brunet when he came running down the stairs, chuckling at the yelp Tsuna gave at the sudden hug. Gripping onto the arms around him, Tsuna beamed brightly, pulling himself closer to the warmth. "He came down the stairs to let me in. I didn't have my keys with me last night and I didn't really want to break unless I scare him awake when I peek into his room. Who wants to hear Tsuna screaming during the middle of the night?"

Tsuna pouted, glancing up from his position. "I wouldn't scream!"

"Oh yes you would." The college student rubbed his fist into Tsuna's hair, hearing a couple of cries. "You would have freaked out and everything, and wake everyone up."

No comment was thrown back, Tsuna just resorting to pout adorably and moved to his seat, starting on his breakfast. Shaking his head, Reborn settled down next to the other, beginning on his own. A couple of words were thrown around the table when Nana came over and after a while, Giotto started arguing with his friends over some strange subject. Tsuna, with only Reborn noticing, nudged his seat closer to the older man, staring up at him now and then with his large eyes. Unable to resist the look, the college student patted the other on the head once more. Time passed quickly at the table and before anyone knew it, Reborn was yawning, finished with his plate, and leaned back against his chair to relax.

It's been a while since he's had a home cooked meal. College meant fast food and restaurants that were cheap. He tried to eat decently enough but sometimes it's hard when there's so much to do and so little time. Glancing over towards Tsuna, he reached over and patted the other on the head again, rubbing the soft caramel-colored locks. The brunet squeaked but didn't push away, edging his chair closer.

"Someone seems happy, hmm." Giotto commented from the side, shoving a piece of egg into his mouth. He was still upset about the whole hit in the morning but let it go for now.

"Yes, Tsuna must have missed me greatly." The college student pulled back for a bit since his arm had almost hit his glass. "It's has been a while though. I'll be getting a break soon I believe. I think in another two to three weeks then Tsuna and I can catch up on all the times we've missed."

The brunet jumped up at that. "R-Really? Do you mean that Reborn?"

"Of course, idiot."

Asari and G stared at the two then turned to each other. The same thought was occurring through their minds so obviously. Giotto noticed his friends shared reaction, raising an eyebrow at the two in question. "What is it, you two?"

"Well…" Asari laughed softly, scratching the side of his face. "Tsuna doesn't seem to be scared at all when he's with Reborn and everyone knows that Reborn is one of the scariest people in Japan."

G nodded to that, folding his arms. Nana was off again, gathering some things in the kitchen. "I mean, Tsuna is scared of us, even flute idiot here. But, not Reborn? That seems to be a little weird."

"Oh… Well, Reborn and Tsuna have been together for seven years, they're really close. Reborn is basically considered family to Mom. She adores him. Not sure about Dad though." Giotto chugged his drink down, washing away any food that was in his throat. The glass gave a click when it tapped against the table. "I mean, Tsuna has known Reborn much longer than anyone else even those friends Reborn has."

Asari blinked and then snapped his fingers together, catching everyone's attention even the two that were at the other side of the table. Reborn and Tsuna glanced over to him curiously, wondering what was happening. "That means that Reborn considers Tsuna precious, right?"

A silence centered on the kitchen and seconds ticked by as Reborn glared at the trio of teenagers dangerously, promising death and annihilation to them if they even mentioned something like that again or to anyone else. Ignoring the cowering three, Tsuna tilted his head and leaned closer to the older student with a smile on his face. "You consider me precious, Reborn?"

The black-haired teen sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah, I do. I consider you precious." There were a couple of giggles from Tsuna, tackling the student around the waist, and Reborn let it happened. He managed to get himself standing from the table, using the chair as support. "Well, come on, you need to get ready for school."

"Ehhh? But I don't want to go to school! I want to stay with you, Reborn!" Tsuna tightened his grip, burying himself into Reborn's body, not wanting to let go. When the college student tried to pull away, the brunet just constricted his grasp further.

"Come on, you need to go to school. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you come back home. I have no class today, my professor canceled it."

"Then I want to stay home with you today. I don't want to go, please let me stay!" Tsuna peered at his mom and gave the puppy-dog look. "Can I, Mom?"

Nana just smiled, rubbing her hands in a towel. "Well, just for today. It _has_ been a long time since we've seen Reborn. I don't think one missed day of school would hurt. Go on, have fun. You too, Reborn."

The two glanced at each other before smiling lightly. Immediately, Tsuna ran off to get some things from upstairs and within seconds, he came rushing down faster than his record time to go back to clinging to the other. Reborn couldn't help but laugh at the eagerness that the younger child was showing.

A couple of goodbyes were waved from Nana and Giotto before Tsuna dragged Reborn out of the house. The black-haired teen allowed it to happen, following along, knowing where the destination was going to be at but he didn't mind. He was happy just to be with the brunet. As he peered down at Tsuna's face for a moment, he chuckled again.

The grin on the brunet's face was so bright that even the sun couldn't compete with him and Reborn couldn't help but get memorized by it.


	8. Year Eight

"Hey, guys, go up to my bedroom, alright? I'm going to get something." Tsuna smiled at his new found friends, feeling a little embarrassed as this was the first time that he's ever had anyone over. He had been a little hesitant in asking them but eventually they were the ones to come out and say it. His honey-colored eyes peered over the two, watching them. It had taken a while but he had finally made some friends that weren't so much older than him. His eyes turned towards Gokudera, his first friend.

It had been an accidental friendship between the two where Tsuna had bumped into the silver-haired student when running away from some bullies. When he did so, he had accidentally saved Gokudera from a falling light, hearing it crash and shatter behind him. The glass had scattered everywhere and he could see sparks of electricity all over from the circuit. Tsuna, not really caring since he was being chased, got up, apologized, before running off and just in time as the bullies came around the corner for him.

The next day had been strange as Gokudera followed him around and it scared Tsuna, afraid that he was going to get beaten up for yesterday's collision. But he didn't want to confront the other and remained as hidden as possible, hiding behind people, and remained in his seat even during lunch. But the other student refused to leave him alone and afterschool, Gokudera finally dragged him away. Tsuna had been so scared, so frightened of getting beaten up, and cowered at the sight of the other coming towards him.

Except the strangest thing happened…

"Tenth, I'll protect you to the end!"

 _Huh_?

Tsuna stared at the silver-haired student in surprise, shocked at receiving such a greeting. He blinked multiple times, thinking that it was just a fluke, and ran off before Gokudera could say anything else. He couldn't really believe it. He couldn't believe that there was actually someone willing to talk to him without scorn or without some kind of dangerous agenda (stealing his money).

The next day when he was leaving his house, he couldn't help but pause to stare at the person standing outside it in his front yard. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things but Gokudera was still there, standing at his gate waiting for _him_. Tsuna froze to his spot, not sure on how to greet someone. He had never really done that before…

However, he didn't have to say anything, the silver-haired teen did for him. "Hi, Tenth! I came here to walk you to school today!"

No response came out of the brunet, his mind still in shock. Never had anyone offered to walk him to school before. It was so…strange. With a little bit of help on Gokudera's side, Tsuna was finally taking his first steps out his front yard. At first, Tsuna thought it was nothing more than an accident again but then the other started showing up next to him during class or coming to get him to eat lunch together. It was really odd for Tsuna, but he liked it. He really liked having someone that was willing to do all those things with him.

Of course, when he became friends with Gokudera, Yamamoto tagged along. The latter was actually easier to deal with. The black-haired teen had a cheerful personality and instantly hit it off with Tsuna without any trouble. It was odd for Tsuna to one day find out that he was eating with two of the most popular people in the school. Some students threw him glares, wondering how they suddenly became so close and a few brave ones came up to question their sudden friendship. But no matter how many times Tsuna tried to explain it, it wouldn't make much sense. It was indeed odd but, he didn't bother with it, he was just happy to finally have someone that would call him out for something other than a beating.

And things continued. Eventually, Yamamoto started meeting up with him in the morning whenever he didn't have baseball practice, keeping himself attached to both Gokudera and Tsuna. It was really nice to the brunet that there were two people to keep him company. He didn't even bother asking why Gokudera had tried to become friends with him, it was just never brought up. The three hanged out more, going to different places and Tsuna went over to both of their houses…except, they never came to his. He wanted to ask but like stated before, they were the ones to come out first. That, he was glad with.

So as Tsuna left to head to the kitchen, his two best friends, Gokudera and Yamamoto looked at each other and nodded, making their way upstairs. They didn't know exactly what room it was but they eventually stumbled across it since the door was wide open. That and there was a little fish hanging off the front door. Gokudera was first to go in, turning on the lights, and dropped his stuff on the floor, Yamamoto next.

But there was someone else in the room.

Yamamoto was the first to notice _him_.

His eyes peered at the person that was resting on the bed, perfectly content. He was fully dressed in a suit except for the shoes that were on the floor and had a fedora covering his face. The black-haired teen blinked and then tilted his head. He tapped Gokudera on the shoulder to get his attention.

"What is it, baseball idiot?" The silver-haired student snapped, glaring at the other.

Yamamoto scratched the back of his head at the yell then pointed towards the direction of the bed. "There's someone sleeping on Tsuna's bed."

"What?" Gokudera snapped around to see the said person and stared in confusion. Why would someone be here? Dirtying it too! He fumed. "Hey! Who the hell are you? And what are you doing on Tenth's bed?"

The person didn't move and just slept there as if nothing was wrong.

"What the?" A voice came from the doorway, catching the two friend's attention. They turned to the doorway to see Giotto, Tsuna's older brother, standing there and leaning against the frame. The blond sighed at the sight, shaking his head, and pulled back to take a single step into the room. "Sleeping here again? You're starting to make this a habit, aren't you? So how long are you going to be here, Reborn?" Giotto huffed and folded his arms, ignoring the other two in the room. When he didn't get an answer, he grumbled underneath his breath. "Well, make sure Tsuna does his homework, alright? And watch over him, I need to head back to school. You know, being president of the student council is getting really annoying. Oh, and Mom is out right now, gone shopping I think."

"Then don't let yourself get elected, idiot. If you don't want to handle the work that's involved with being president then don't do it." Reborn grumbled from under his fedora, still not moving. By the sound of his voice, it was obvious that he had been awake the whole time.

The two friends in the middle were so confused on what was going, almost to the point that they didn't know what to say, but they recognized the name 'Reborn'. Who hadn't? The man was well-known among the town of Namimori.

"Ah, Giotto-nii, are you going out today?" Tsuna called out as he came up to the top of the stairs, carrying a tray of drinks for his friends. He had yet to enter the room, standing out in the hallway, staring at his older brother.

"Yeah, that's right. Duty calls. I'll see you later tonight but don't worry. _He's_ already here." Giotto slipped around Tsuna, noticing his look of confusion, before heading down the stairs. He needed to get out as fast as possible before he heard Tsuna's squeal. It could sometimes be quite painful. The brunet heard the front door close and as he stepped into the room, took one look at the person that was on his bed before breaking out into a large grin.

"Reborn!" He placed the tray onto the table and jumped onto his bed to look down at the older man. His hands were resting on Reborn's chest, gently shaking the other. "Are you going to stay the night today?"

Reborn just lifted up a hand, giving a thumbs up, and then let his hand raise up to pat the brunet on the head.

Tsuna's face brightened up. "Great! That's wonderful!" He reached down to lift Reborn's fedora up to he could see the half-asleep face. But the older man just opened his eyes as the light finally hit his face and sighed, turning his head towards the two other teenagers in the room. They were staring back in curiosity, just watching the exchange between the two.

"Aren't you forgetting about something, Tsuna?" The brunet gave him a 'huh?' type of look, wondering what the other had meant. He stared at Reborn in question, reaching up with a finger to touch his lips. Reborn sighed again and pointed towards the two that were at the side.

Finally figuring out what the other had meant, Tsuna turned towards that direction and spotted his friends. It seemed that he had just remembered that there were other people in here besides the two on the bed. "Oh, right! Sorry about that!" Tsuna slid his legs off the bed, still holding onto the fedora as captive. "Yamamoto. Gokudera-kun. This is Reborn, he's a very close friend of mine. And Reborn, this is Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun, they're from my school and are related to Giotto-nii's friends."

Reborn made a half-attempt of watching, still not moving from his spot, too comfortable.

"Hey, there. Nice to meet you." Yamamoto smiled, not bothered by the strangeness of the person and sat down at the table to get his drink, thanking Tsuna at the same time.

Gokudera, on the other hand, didn't take it as well. He turned a little red in the face and took a step forward as if threatening the twenty year old man. "Hey, you! How long have you known the Tenth?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that and turned to Tsuna, mouthing 'Tenth?' in curiosity. Tsuna just shrugged his shoulders in response, not sure about it either. "Well, I've known him since he was five and he's twelve now, so about seven years." Reborn took a deep breath, reaching over to grab his fedora so that he could go back to sleep, but Tsuna instantly jumped off the bed to get away. He glared and Tsuna just stuck his tongue out. Collapsing back onto the bed, Reborn huffed, not wanting to move again just yet.

The silver-haired teen instantly backed down and fell to the floor in defeat. He had only known Tsuna for a few months, that was nothing compared to seven years.

Everyone just watched in amusement, not completely sure on what was going on.

Reborn took that distraction to sit back up and snatch his fedora back, placing it triumphantly back on his head before collapsing onto the bed once more.

Tsuna gave a pout in response but didn't fight back. He was just happy that Reborn was here with him. That was all that really matted.

As the students began their homework and studying, Reborn fell back asleep, slumbering away, though he did keep an ear out just in case. He knew what Tsuna would do if he dropped his guard, the kid really surprised him at times, probably too familiar with his tricks.

"So…what does this mean?" Yamamoto muttered the word problem out loud and the two other teens looked over the pages.

"Sixty-nine." Reborn commented before Gokudera could do anything, stretching a bit to move the pillow into a better spot. Tsuna and Yamamoto both smiled and wrote down the answer while Gokudera grumbled under his breath.

As the two continued to do their homework, it eventually became time when they had to leave and head home. Gokudera didn't seem as willing to leave, staring at the older man that was still sleeping on the bed, before making his way down the stairs. "Tenth, are you sure you'll be fine with someone like him?" The silver-haired teen asked worriedly, not liking the idea of leaving his precious tenth with someone else.

"Of course!" Tsuna stated it as if it was obvious. "I trust Reborn! My whole family does." Gokudera still grumbled and was ultimately forced out by Yamamoto. Tsuna waved at the two as they left and locked the door once they were out of sight. Immediately, he ran straight up the stairs and jumped onto his bed, landing right on top of Reborn. The man left out a yelp, not exactly expecting such a thing and glare at the child on top of him, rubbing his side. Tsuna just continued to grin, swinging his feet up and down, and collapsed to rub his chin into Reborn's chest.

Used to this sort of thing happening, Reborn just brought an arm up to hold Tsuna tighter against his body and then closed his eyes. The brunet squirmed a bit in the hold, trying to get into a better position, before turning his head to the side. His right ear was against the chest, listening to the heart beat within the ribcage, and smiled. His honey-colored orbs slowly closed and finally shut, letting himself drift off to the sound of the heart.

Reborn just smirked, shifting his other hand so that it could come up to stroke Tsuna's hair, and yawned. He didn't bother moving the other off, completely content with this position, and smiled.


	9. Year Nine

"Tsuna! You better get up! Today is the day you follow Reborn to school!" Nana called out from below the stairs, peering upward from her position in hopes of seeing her youngest getting up. She was about to sigh for a moment when she heard nothing and started heading up when she heard some crashes and a yelp before the said brunet popped his head out into view, looking a little flustered. Nana smiled at the sight, cooing at how adorable her son looked, and widened her grin. "You have about thirty minutes before he comes by! You need to be ready by then!"

"O-okay!" Tsuna grinned in return, rushing back into his room to get ready. At the name of Reborn, he had accidently sprung out of bed and rushed to the stairs. Though he was disappointed that the older man wasn't there, he was still happy about the news. Today, he was taking a day off of school to go to Reborn's college and get an inside look of the place.

Nana was fine with it, hoping that a little bit of higher setting would get her youngest to follow in Reborn's footsteps or at least get a better perception about the world. One could only hope, but she knew that Reborn was a wonderful influence on her little one and she had that motherly intuition that the elder man wouldn't hesitate to help her son out of any situation. Now, if only Tsuna could grow up a little faster, then she could give him away to Reborn without a second thought and feel completely content with knowing her darling would be in safe hands. After all, Reborn was here more often than her own husband and Tsuna had developed a tendency to follow Reborn around like a little duckling. It was always a cute sight to see. Oh, she had pictures that told stories of the two.

As she went back into the kitchen, Tsuna was still rushing around inside his room, grabbing what he needed to wear and ran down the stairs to get breakfast. It was still early in the morning, but he didn't mind waking up if it meant going somewhere with Reborn. He was always more fun than stupid boring school any day.

"Are you ready for today, Tsuna?" Nana asked once she saw her bundle of sunshine sitting at the kitchen table.

"Yeah!"

The mother simply beamed, going back to cooking, making sure to make enough for their other visitor who should be arriving at any moment. As much as she loved her son, she knew better than anyone else how dense he was at the same time. He didn't have much experience in anything of the real world and she had been hearing a lot of rumors from the other mothers on her block. She hoped and prayed that her little darling would never become one of those, knowing that her son was far too innocent for his own good. Giotto, on the other hand, was already grown up, experiencing relationships, and she had egged on him to make sure that he wouldn't sleep with anyone until he was much, much older. As much as she wanted a grandchild, she didn't want one so soon. Though, she had to admit, it was funny to see her eldest son's face completely red at her intrusions.

"Here you go! Pancakes! Your favorite!" Settling down the plate of just made food, she smiled happily, watching as her son seemed to brighten up and devoured his plate.

"Oh, so we're having pancakes today?" a husky voice came from behind, alerting the two of their newcomer. Reborn stood at the kitchen doorway, a smirk on his lips, and his arms folded neatly across his chest. He was dressed in his usual style of clothes and looked absolutely ravishing. Tsuna looked like he was about to say something when Reborn whacked him on the head. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

The brunet simply pouted and swallowed. "Reborn! You're here!"

"Of course I am, I wouldn't miss this for the world. So, are you ready for today?"

"Yeah!"

Chuckling, Reborn patted the brunet, now a teenager, on the head as he settled into one of the chairs. Instantly, pancakes were placed before him and he nodded towards Nana. "Thank you, your cooking is delicious as usual. I hope you don't mind about this little outing."

"Of course not! I'm just glad that you're here to make my little Tsuna smile! He's so lonely without you." Nana giggled as she listened to her son cry out in embarrassment, cheeks turning red.

"Oh?" Reborn grinned evilly, leaning over. "You missed me that much? How cute." Tsuna yelled out a couple more words before realizing he was being ignored. Grumbling in frustration, he stabbed his last bit of pancakes and stuffed it into his mouth, still upset. The black-haired man just laughed, patting the teenager on the head. "You know, Mamma, at this rate, I just might steal your son away and take him home with me."

Nana paused at that before grinning. "If you did that, I would be soooo happy! Just make sure I get to see him during the weekends, alright?"

'Well…that didn't go as planned.' Reborn huffed, almost slumping his seat. He hadn't expected her to react like that, more on the lines of 'don't you dare!' or something else. Oh, what an odd family and yet, here he was eating with them. Glancing at his watch, he stood up, wiping his lips of any leftover crumbles. "Tsuna, we need to go. It's time."

"Okay!"

Reborn turned to the mother with a nod. "We'll see you later."

"Have a nice trip!"

* * *

"Eh? This is your school?" Tsuna gawked as he looked over the gigantic campus, eyes wide in shock. It was huge, like four of his school combined together. And there were so many older-looking people here. He suddenly shrunk down in fear, wondering if he would be okay in this setting.

"Yes, it's a university. People from all over the world come to these sorts of places, this happens to be one of the top schools in Japan so it's got to show off when it can," Reborn smirked, parking his car into one of the lots and turned the key to off the engine. Tsuna, meanwhile, turned to look out the window, peering over the hundreds of other cars that were all around and he just stared at them in amazement, thinking in the back of his mind that this was really cool. As they stepped out, the adult started straightening himself out, making sure that he looked his usual best. Nothing was to be out of place. It would be bad if he got caught unaware on such a day. Peering down at Tsuna, he gave a warm smile that was only meant for him. "Come, let's meet up with the others."

"Others?"

"My friends."

Tsuna tilted his head. "Oh, do you mean Luce and the others? Them?"

"Of course. And guess what? I let them know in advance that you were showing up today. I bet Luce baked something for you!" Reborn smirked, placing his hands into his pockets, and watched as Tsuna followed him along like a little puppy. To him, it looked so cute.

"Luce's cooking is as good as Mom's. I can't wait!" Tsuna smiled and ran along the sidewalk, yelling at Reborn to hurry up. Though he was now thirteen, he didn't always act like one and sadly, he hadn't grown all that much in height. But Reborn knew differently, it wouldn't be long before Tsuna sprouted out. As for maturity, that he wasn't sure about. Would Tsuna forever retain that cheerfulness or would…Reborn shook his head, he didn't want to think about such things. If Tsuna ever followed the path to darkness, he would just have to make sure to lead the brunet astray, back to the right one. His demeanor was one of a kind, a true gem in this terrible world.

'Ah, shouldn't be thinking of such things. I'll deal with it when I get there.'

As they entered one of the main doors, Tsuna paused at seeing all the shuffling people, staring at everyone in amusement before his shyness began to take over. Reborn stopped at the doors as well, but only because the brunet did and observed as that healthy skin color paled down to a mere white. He watched as Tsuna immediately hid behind his body, wrapping his arms onto his waist for dear life, cowering fearfully at the thought of having that many pair of eyes on him. Reborn chuckled, already knowing this would happen, and was still able to remember when Tsuna had been clutching his legs instead. He noticed that many of his fellow students were stopping to stare at him in question, wondering who the kid was. Apparently, Reborn was famous wherever he went and he listened as questions began to spread among the populace about the child clinging to his body.

"Oh? Where did all that bravery go?" Reborn smirked, teasing the brunet happily, obviously ignoring everyone else as their eyes began to wonder. One girl even dared to try and come up to talk to him, but stopped the moment the black-haired man sent a glare her way, freezing her legs to the spot.

"S-shut up!"

"Reborn! You're here!" And just like that, Luce came running down the hallway, almost as if the crowd had broken apart at the sight of her. She held a little batch of cookies in her hands, guarding it carefully, and barely stopped until she ran past Reborn. "Oh Tsuna, I made you something! I hope you'll enjoy it! It's my famous chocolate chip cookies!"

"Really? Thanks!" Tsuna grinned as he felt the little gift nudged into his chest, holding the food protectively as he let go of Reborn. His mind was no longer on the people around him, but on the grown woman instead.

"Oh wow, Reborn, you were just rejected, kora!" a blonde appeared next, laughing at Reborn, who was still ignored as Luce continued to coo at the brunet, hugging him tenderly.

"So? At least I get more of his attention than anyone else," the man smirked, stepping away from the two on the ground and instead went towards his other friend. "Where are the others?"

"Well, Verde and Viper don't have class today. Lal already went to hers so that only leaves Fong and Skull. They should be arriving at any moment, kora," Colonello twitched, disappointed to not see any expression on Reborn's face. He had long learned that Tsuna was the only person that could get the other to melt and reveal well-hidden emotions. It was endearing to see someone like Reborn so attached. Bringing Tsuna here only proved it more. "So Tsuna is going to follow you around today, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

At that, Colonello seemed to pause. "Oh…"

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that expression. "What?"

"I guess you haven't heard, well I wouldn't be surprised since it was just put up earlier today. But our professor got sick last night so they're combining our classes with another. I don't know if there will be enough room to have Tsuna sits with us. Our class already fills up three-fourths of one room, imagine two, kora." Colonello narrowed his eyebrows in frustration, knowing that there was a high chance that Tsuna might have to wait outside the classroom until they'd finished. And that was troubling, seeing as the brunet feared everyone except for those he was familiar with.

"Then, he could come with me. I don't think my professor will mind," a calm voice spoke from behind, snapping both men's attention away from each other. Fong stood there with a soft smile on his face and bowed to the two before glancing over to Tsuna, waving lightly. "I have more than enough room in my classroom. Skull's class might not be the best since it deals with…dangerous instruments."

Tsuna was accident-prone, hence the reason for his tendency to trip and fall into danger. They shuddered at the thought of letting Tsuna anywhere near sharp or hazardous objects.

"That's fine with me. Tsuna!" Reborn called out, getting the brunet's attention and watched as he ran forward. Those large honey-colored eyes peered at him curiously, a wide smile on his lips. "There's been a change of plans, you'll need to follow Fong today."

"Eh?" Tsuna looked absolutely horrified at the plans, pouting depressingly at the thought of being separated from Reborn.

"Apparently, the classroom we're heading into doesn't have enough room for you and I doubt you want to be sitting outside by yourself for three hours." Reborn could see that surprise slowly slipping away and understanding come through. Though Tsuna might be young, he could at least tell when he had no choice but to follow. This was something he couldn't change even if he wanted to. "So Fong has offered to take you with him. Look, I'll come and check on you during break, alright? I'll even pick you up after class and some ice-cream along the way home."

"Okay," There was still that defeated tone, but Tsuna was still glad that he would be able to see Reborn later and that promised dessert was an added bonus. He peered up at Fong for a moment, stepping closer, while still holding the goods. "Hope you don't mind."

"Of course not."

Luce pouted sadly at having to depart from her little Tsuna, oh how she wished she could be with him a little longer. She eventually had to be dragged away by the two other males, Skull joining them at the last moment to help out. That left Fong and Tsuna on their own, waving goodbye. Once the group had disappeared, the Chinese man leaned over. "Come, I'll lead the way for you," he outstretched his hands for Tsuna to grab, taking him down the hallway to his class, well aware of the questioning looks he received. He got stopped a few times by some girls, but he simply waved them off, motioning that he didn't have time to talk. Fong too noticed that Tsuna had really grown up from the last time he saw him, well, physically-wise. Instead of being at Fong's thighs and legs, he was now at the waist, able to grab and hang on when some stranger came too close. It was really cute and he didn't mind the closeness at all. It was just something that was a part of Tsuna's personality. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Reaching forward, Tsuna grabbed further up onto Fong's long red sleeve and held on tightly, keeping his body against the other. He buried his face into the man's side, hiding himself from the other people that were in the hallway. More of the students turned to stare at the college student, who had a teenager against him, even a professor. Tsuna peered up at the taller man in question. "Where are we going again?"

"To my class, remember?" Lifting his backpack up higher on his left shoulder, the Chinese man continued to pull Tsuna along, guiding the little teen towards a room that was at the end.

"What class is it?"

Fong smiled, nudging Tsuna into his classroom. "It's Chinese history." he looked up at the professor - who was standing at the front of the room - and nodded towards him in respect. Motioning Tsuna to follow him, he went up to the teacher and began speaking in Chinese, momentarily glancing down to the brunet while informing his professor about the situation.

As Fong did that, Tsuna glanced around the large room, finding it huge compared to the classrooms in his school, and studied the images on the wall. He made a face at the words and symbols, not understanding it at all, and wiggled his nose in frustration. It was different to the ones he was normally used to and taught to write and speak. He glanced down at his cookies, wanting to try one out, knowing full well that they were probably one of the most delicious things in the world. But with one arm held captive by Fong, he couldn't pull the bow off.

Suddenly, he felt the older man's weight shift and Tsuna turned around to see the Chinese man kneeling down to his level. "Hey, Tsuna, my professor said it's alright for you to stay as long as you're quiet. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah!" Nodding his head, the thirteen-year-old gave a brilliant smile and glanced up at the so-called professor before squeaking, hiding behind Fong's legs, attaching himself like he was holding onto for dear life.

Fong just laughed at that, unable to resist patting Tsuna on the head. "Tsuna, can you say 'thank you' in Chinese to him? It's 'xie xie'."

The brunet just tilted his head in confusion.

The older man chuckled. "Well can you at least say 'thank you' to my professor? You know, for letting you stay."

Tsuna blinked his large honey-colored eyes and then glanced down at his feet for a few seconds. Eventually, he looked back up with a small tint of red on his checks. "T-thank you."

The professor just smiled. "No problem, just remember to be quiet, alright?"

Nodding his head again, Tsuna went back to clinging onto Fong, refusing to let go. As they tried to head up the stairs to get to the mid seats of the classroom, a few people that were already in class called out to them. Many were questioning about Tsuna, others were trying to flirt with Fong, however, he didn't leave much answers or responses to anything and continued to make his way up, knowing full well about Tsuna not being comfortable with other people he wasn't familiar with. As they settled into their seats, Tsuna being on Fong's right, they watched as others began pooling into the room.

"Alright, what would you like to do to keep yourself occupied?" Fong asked, going through his backpack for his spiral and pens. "Did you bring anything with you?"

"No…" Tsuna twitched his nose and looked down at the paper, blinking at the strange writings. His bags of cookies were on the table, forgotten for the moment since Tsuna's attention was elsewhere. "What's that?"

"Oh? This? It's Chinese. It's my native language," Fong pushed his papers over, his handwriting was elegant and neat compared to Tsuna's own chicken scratch. Leaning forward, he pointed to the very top. "That's my name in Chinese when written. Here, this is yours." he quickly wrote out the brunet's name below his own and smiled, pushing the paper over.

Tsuna stared at the strange symbols that were supposed to be his name and tilted his head in confusion. It still looked so odd compared to the normal handwriting he was used to no matter how much he tried to understand. "That's my name?"

"Yes, neat, right?" Fong leaned over so he could get a better look at the brunet's expression and chuckled at it. "It's alright if you don't understand it. It is in a different language." Reaching over, the college student couldn't help but rub his hair affectionately. "You can look through my stuff if you like, but you'll need to be quiet in the meantime while the professor is talking, alright?"

Tsuna nodded his head and made a zipping movement on his lips to prove his silence, smiling the entire time. Fong laughed at that, patting the brunet on the head happily, finding the act far too cute. As Tsuna began rumbling through Fong's stuff, he pulled out a notebook and went through the pages, ignoring the world around him. His eyes scanned over the mysterious letters and tried to use his little feeble mind to connect the dots, but nothing was making sense. It still looked odd. Eventually he grew bored of the letters and tried to listen to the professor for a moment, but found nothing all that interesting. It was like he was back in school again.

Soon, he was fumbling through more of Fong's stuff, opening the zippers, trying to see if there was anything more entertaining. The Chinese man chuckled at Tsuna's curious nature, trying to pay attention to the lecture, but his eyes kept drifting over to the brunet, wanting to watch everything he did. Eventually, Tsuna found Fong's Iphone and pulled it out, turning the device to the side for a moment before looking for the 'on' button. He clicked the side and a screen came up that said 'slide to the right'. He followed the commands and it opened up immediately, going through the pages the Iphone had. He found some games that he instantly started playing, but before any of them started, Fong had to reach over to ensure that the sound was completely off. He didn't want to get in trouble because he forgot to turn it off.

Like an immediate effect, Tsuna was off in his own little world, tapping the screen repeatedly to hit something or would tilt the device to turn. Fong smiled at the little innocence before looking back to class. He would probably need to recharge his battery on the way home.

'Ah, that's right. I can text with this. Maybe I should try Reborn?' Tsuna thought to himself, pulling up the texting function and flipped through the contacts until he came up to Reborn's name. Opening a new message, he wrote 'Hi!' and immediately sent it off, waiting for a reply. Just a few second later, the phone vibrated and Tsuna immediately smiled when he saw the name it belonged to.

'Tsuna?'

'Yep! Are you in class?'

'Obviously. What are you doing?'

'Texting you :D' Tsuna smiled as he pressed the send button, completely unaware that Fong was peeking over his shoulder and reading the messages.

'Thanks for stating the obvious, idiot. How are you holding up?'

'Fine, the class is boring though, I don't get it. I feel like I'm in school all over again.'

'You are in school, Tsuna.'

'Oh, right. I forgot.'

'I can't imagine how you're going to live for the rest of your life.'

Tsuna pouted at that and stared at the words, trying to figure out what to say next. Fong, on the other hand, had better ideas. Nudging the brunet slightly, he slipped his phone and wrote fours words, ones he knew for a fact would get a reaction out of Reborn. He just wished he was there to see the expression, maybe the others will tell him?

'I love you, Reborn.'

Handing the phone over, Tsuna went through the sent files and blushed madly at the text, staring accusingly at Fong. The Chinese man just continued to smile with a hint of smugness in his eyes and waited for the reply. It didn't come in for a while and for a moment, Tsuna looked really worried, his eyes softening at the fact that Reborn might be angry with him. Fong, however, knew that wasn't the case. No, he was pretty certain that the other had reacted just as expected, or at least, that's what he hoped. The brunet was staring at him accusingly as if saying this was all his fault, but that changed the moment the phone vibrated.

Tsuna eagerly looked down, still unaware that Fong was watching, and opened the message. 'I…love you too.'

Both pair of eyes widened at the screen, Fong's more so than anyone else. Tsuna smiled happily, almost looking like he wanted to giggle out loud in happiness. Then another message came in.

'Tsuna, I know that Fong is probably looking over your shoulder at the messages. Turn your body to the side to prevent that.' At that, Tsuna peered up into Fong's eyes, pouted and turned his body away from the older man, hiding all future messages. The disappointment in Fong's eyes was obvious and he mentally sighed, knowing he had been caught in the act.

He had hoped that he would be able to look at the messages shared once he got his phone back, however, Reborn taught Tsuna over text how to delete. Guess he'll never have that proof.

* * *

"So, how was class, Tsuna?" Reborn asked as he peered down at the little brunet with a soft hidden smile, unseen by anyone else due to the angle he was at. He was well aware that they were being watched by a group of girls who were cooing at Reborn. Glancing over to them for a moment, he stared to make sure they weren't getting any closer before looking back at Tsuna. He didn't want any trouble, not to the innocent little child before him. Fong had already disappeared, probably knowing very well he would be in trouble from the text, it didn't take that much to know who really sent it.

"It was interesting." There was a twitch on Tsuna's right eyebrow, something that Reborn noticed immediately.

"Tsuna…"

Holding his expression, the brunet tried to prevent anything from being revealed before collapsing. "Fine…it was boring." Pouting, Tsuna huffed, turning away slightly to prevent himself from looking at Reborn any longer. He didn't want to see that smirk on his face or that disappointed look. Both were bad. He really liked Reborn and wanted him to always keep good thoughts about him in mind. At least he tried. "And it really only got interesting when you started texting me…did you mean that, you know, text?"

Tsuna stared up at the older man with hopeful eyes, wondering if those words on the phone were a lie. All he felt was a pat on his head and a soft smile was aimed at him and that was all he needed to know it was the truth. He couldn't help but squeal and hug his arms around the other, his heart fluttering his chest happily.

Reborn wanted nothing more than to return that grasp, Tsuna always made him happy no matter what the situation was. Tilting his fedora to the side to better hide his expression, he narrowed his eyes as he heard some footsteps coming up from behind, interrupting his little moment with Tsuna, and peered around just in time to see a woman leaning over with her arms outstretched, holding something in the palm of her hands. It was a wrapped container that looked like cookies inside with a green bow on the top, neatly placed. It was something very similar to the bag Tsuna was holding onto. The girl hesitatingly peered up through her bangs to stare at the handsome man, a tint of red coloring her cheeks.

"I-I would be h-honored if you took this!" she yelled out, embarrassment all over her face and her hands shook violently.

Tsuna tilted his head curiously, wondering what was going on. All he could see was some student bending over with a gift in hand, trying to give it to Reborn, and that there were other girls behind her that looked absolutely jealous or angry. Why? He wasn't sure. Glancing up at Reborn, he tried to get the answer, but all he saw was annoyance in those dark eyes that seemed to be well covered, but Tsuna knew better. He had been around Reborn long enough to at least know when the older man was annoyed or pissed and especially when he needed to run and hide. Reaching over, he grabbed Reborn's arm, tugging the long sleeve jacket to get his attention. The black-haired man raised an eyebrow at his curious expression, clearly ignoring the woman.

"What?"

The brunet glanced between Reborn and the other person, who had by now straightened herself out and was now looking at him as if he had just been noticed. "Reborn, what is she doing? Do people normally give stuff away for free here?"

At that, he got a long sigh and Reborn flicked his fedora upward, knowing this would be tough to say. "No, Tsuna. This is something one does when they like someone."

At those words, the woman blushed brightly but Tsuna wasn't deterred. This only opened up more questions. "Someone you like? But I like you Reborn, am I supposed to give you something? But I don't have anything on me right now except what Luce gave me. Do you want them?" the brunet's smile fell, shoulders slumping in defeat, wondering if he had done something completely wrong. He didn't want the other to hate him, no, he really liked Reborn and if the older man wanted those cookies, then he can have them. Tsuna tugged at the jacket again, looking like he was about to cry at the thought of hurting the person he liked the most. Reborn was the closest and most precious person he knew and just the thought of the other hating him burned his heart painfully. It was like he was being stabbed repeatedly and that ache continued to throb in his chest, never stopping for a moment. "D-does that mean you don't like me anymore?"

At the desperate expression, Reborn silently groaned, figuring out real fast that he must have said something wrong. Or at least said something to make the other think in the negative way. The woman with the cookies had long been forgotten, completely ignored and shoved away by a child. "I think you're thinking wrongly, Tsuna. I like you. If I didn't, would I still be here with you? Or hanging out with you? Or even brought you here with me? And what about that text? If I didn't care for you, would I really have said that to just anyone?"

"O-oh…"

"Then there's your answer."

Tsuna blinked for a few second before the information processed in his little brain. Immediately, his expression did a one-eighty turn, brightening up instantly, and reached forward to grab onto Reborn's waist, smiling happily to himself.

"Oi, Tsuna!" At his name, the brunet turned around to see Colonello jogging up to them, having a wide grin on his face. He glanced at Reborn for a moment before back down at the teenager. "I know the best way for you to show him just how much you love him, kora."

"Really? You do?" Tsuna pondered over it for a moment before breaking out into a grin. "How?"

Reborn had a real bad feeling out this.

"It's easy. All you have to do is kiss him." Colonello grinned, watching the widening of Reborn's eyes, oh, was he going to get his revenge on the other. And he had already heard about that little bit about the texting he had received from Fong. "Remember that time during graduation, he was _really_ happy you did that to him, kora."

"Really?"

"Colonello, I'll kill you!"

"Yeah, so if you kiss him, he'll definitely know just how much you love and care for him, kora." Nudging Tsuna forward with the widest grin on his face, he watched Reborn slightly panic within, knowing that inside the black-haired man's head, thoughts were just going wild. It was always so hard to get any expressions other than just a dangerous smirk, but if he could get Reborn of all people flustered then the beating afterwards was worth every ounce of pain.

Tsuna peered back at the blonde for a moment before turning his attention to Reborn. The woman that had just confessed was still disregarded, but she was now watching the scene with interest, hanging her arms to her side. The rest of the hallway seemed to stop as well, eyes glued on the two. It was like there was a show going on before their eyes. "Reborn?"

Curses flooded the man's mind, wondering if there was a way to get out of this. He couldn't have anything like this happen in public, not here, news would spread like wildfire in this place and he had a reputation to uphold. Peering up at Colonello, he sneered, promising death to the other. Before Reborn could do anything else, he felt a tug on his jacket and looked down at those large innocent honey-colored eyes that were obviously distressed to have him like Tsuna. It was funny really. He was never the one to do such things much less go that far with anyone, but with Tsuna, he felt like it was right, that he wasn't doing anything bad. The brunet was just someone that would be there for him and trust him regardless of what happened.

"Reborn?" Tsuna was still staring.

"Ah, I know." he kneeled down, patting the teenager on the head and ruffled the soft locks gently, noticing how the strands had grown much longer than last time. He'll probably be needing a haircut soon.

"Oh, before I forget!" the blonde's grin seemed to be even wider than before, almost as if he was taunting Reborn, and he probably is. "Don't forget about using tongue."

At this, Tsuna scrunched up his face. "Tongue?"

Reborn snapped. He got right up and yanked Colonello along into one of the closets, ignoring the yelling and cursing the other screamed out. Right when he was about to close the door, he turned to Tsuna for a moment with a smirk. "Now stay right there. I'm going to take care of Colonello for a moment. Don't do anything." As he closed the door, Reborn glared at the blonde, his threatening aura leaking out and surrounding him dangerously like some evil coat.

Tsuna just stared at the door curiously, wondering what was going to happen. All he heard was some shouting in a different language and then some banging. Whatever was happening, it sounded like it hurt. There were some crashes and sounds that seemed like something had fallen down among other things. He turned to peer at the group of people that seemed to gather around the place and then back at the girl, who now looked completely depressed. As much as he wanted to say something to her to cheer her right up, he didn't know what. He didn't know anything about her and felt a little relieved when her friends came by to pull her along, muttering words of comfort.

It took a few moments, but eventually the door opened with Reborn stepping out looking just like he had when he went in. Colonello, of course, didn't follow and the black-haired man just closed the door behind with a satisfied smirk on his expression, glad that he had finally gotten rid of the annoyance. That idiot's unneeded comments were just making his situation worst. But that was only one problem dealt with, he still had Tsuna.

"Reborn? Are you done?" the brunet asked, stepping closer, looking almost like a lost puppy with the way those brown locks seemed to hang out.

"Ah, yes. Colonello said he was tired so he'll be staying in there for a while. Come on, let's talk somewhere else and not here in public." Reborn outstretched his hand, watching as Tsuna smiled happily and grabbed it, letting himself get tugged along. He could see the disappointment in the other students' eyes surrounding their little area but he didn't care. This wasn't something he wanted to do in view.

"Reborn?"

"Hm?"

"What's this tongue Colonello was talking about?"

Oh he should have known that Tsuna's curious nature wouldn't stop the boy from asking. As least he felt more prepared to deal with this after taking care of the idiot that created this whole mess. And of course, he needed to make sure he phrased his answers correctly or else he would be trapped in the same cycle like before. "It's something you do with during a date or when you're married."

"You mean like Mamma and Dad?"

Reborn almost grimaced at the thought of those two doing something like that. "Yeah."

Tsuna seemed to pause at that before looking back up. "But I've never seen Mamma and Dad do something like that."

This almost made Reborn trip. "It's something you do in private."

"I don't get it. What's so big about tongue? It's in the mouth right?"

"You're in middle school, right? How could you not know by now?" Reborn looked skeptical, after all, he had been hearing those many kids these days were losing their virginity in middle school and were getting pregnant. Why hadn't Tsuna caught up with the current sex life everyone seemed to be having? Not that he wanted someone as innocent as Tsuna to be doing such things, it was just odd. Reborn made a mental note to keep an eye out for any idiots that would try to take advantage of the brunet, at least Yamamoto and Gokudera would be around to protect him to an extent.

"I did ask once, but…everyone ignores me. They say I'm too stupid to know and shouldn't breed," Tsuna looked crestfallen at that, looking down at his feet. Reborn stopped for a moment, observing the brunet, before growling to himself, also promising to himself to go to Tsuna's school and torture whoever dared say that. No one gets away with that. Luckily the hallway was now empty, students already heading back to class while Reborn was done for the day. "S-so I was wondering if you'd tell me."

Releasing his grasp on Tsuna's hand, he lifted his fedora off his head and ran a hand through his spiky black locks. Frustration was evident on his expression and he knew better than anyone else that Tsuna would continue asking regardless. His dark eyes stared at the brunet and motioned him to continued, placing the hat back onto its rightful place. Opening a door to an empty classroom, he went inside, checking for any hidden people before nudging Tsuna in. He knew he shouldn't be doing this and to someone so young as well. But…when he thought of someone else teaching Tsuna such things…oh it made his blood boil in rage. No one was allowed to such things with Tsuna, at least, not without his permission first. And he'd rather be the one to teach him, at least, he wouldn't harm the other in any possible way.

"Look Tsuna, I'll teach you, but you have to promise me that you don't go off telling people this, alright? And I don't want you to try this on others either. I could get in trouble."

Tsuna made a gasping sound and covered his mouth, eyes wide. "I-I won't do anything, promise!"

This made Reborn smile, patting the brunet on the head. "I know. That's what I like about you the most. It's that you're so honest with me and always…" At this, he trailed off, not sure on how to continue his words. Shaking his head, he scattered his thoughts and smiled as he looked into those large honey-colored eyes. "You remember giving me that kiss last time, right?"

"Yeah!"

"It's like that, but your mouth would be open instead of closed." At the confusion expression, he chuckled. "Close your eyes, I'll show you." With that, the brunet followed his directions, eyes sealed shut and looked quite relaxed despite what was supposed to happen. Reborn knew he really shouldn't be doing this, but it was either him or some stranger…tensing with that thought in mind, he leaned over, observing the smooth skin Tsuna had and the fluttering of eyelids as they threatened to open from mere inquisitiveness, and gently brushed their lips together. He felt that little spark, but ignored it and pressed their lips together completely, feeling the warmth from the other. Reborn had to admit it was quite pleasant and tilted his head slightly to get a better angle on the brunet.

Using his tongue, he nudged Tsuna's mouth open, carefully prying it, and slipped inside. He heard the brunet make a gasp at the intrusion, but didn't do anything else, letting Reborn do whatever he wanted. Immediately, Reborn took advantage of it, using his tongue to run across the brunet's mouth, mapping out the insides before attacking Tsuna's limp appendage. There was another gasp and some muffled cries as the teenager felt Reborn moved him along, motioning him to follow the movements and he did, until he ran out of breath.

Yanking away, Tsuna's cheeks were puffy red and the sharp intakes of air seemed to burn his lungs. He stared up into those dark eyes curiously and tenderly reached up to touch his lips, still able to feel the warmth on them. For a second, he thought it felt kinda…funny. He didn't know how to describe the sensation. It was odd and very foreign.

"That's how you use tongue during a kiss, Tsuna." Reborn huffed, feeling a little flustered. Him? Flustered? That had to be a lie. But regardless, he knew his feelings very well.

"Kiss…" Tsuna seemed to complicate it for a moment, deep in thought before turning back to Reborn with a smile. He got onto his tippy toes and kissed Reborn on the cheek, giggling lightly the whole time. "Thanks for teaching me, Reborn."

The adult was quiet, not sure on how to respond and reached back to scratch the back of his head. Oh, great. Now he was getting nervous. It seems like Tsuna was bringing out all sorts of emotions from him today. Just great.

"But…um…Reborn?" Now Tsuna was starting to look anxious about something, shifting on his feet.

"Yes?"

"Could you…do that one more time?"

And cue the blushing. Reborn couldn't stop the redness that seemed to flood his cheeks, hoping that he had heard incorrectly, but those eager and virtuous eyes told him otherwise. He swore that blush was going to go to his ears very soon if he didn't control himself, but it was so hard, not when there was a little teenager asking him to do something immoral. Ah, Reborn knew if Tsuna's parents found out about this, Nana was going to kill him, screw Iemitsu, that baboon was useless, but the wife, oh dear god. Even Giotto would be easier to take care of than Nana, that woman could become vicious if her little baby was in trouble.

"Tsuna, I think you should share that next one with someone really important." he patted the soft hair, hoping the brunet would listen to him, but he knew better, Tsuna always found a way to twist his words.

"But I want to do it with you."

'Oh, there are so many wrongs with that one sentence…' Reborn twitched. Why was this happening to him of all people? "F-fine." Great, now he was stuttering. Thank god he had decided to do this in private than out in the open where anyone could see them. Could this be considered rape?

Leaning back over, he gave another kiss, reaching forward with his right hand to hold Tsuna's head still, and felt the brunet returning the gestures shyly. He smirked into the kiss, using his skills to leave the other breathless, and allowed his left hand to cup the chin for a better advantage. The shivers he felt on Tsuna's skin were amusing and he could tell that the other was trying to fight back, though weakly, it was still there. Reborn wanted to make sure that this kiss would be the only one that Tsuna would have, to make sure that this kiss would be etched in that memory bank forever, and to make sure that no matter who else kissed Tsuna, it would be _nothing_ compared to this one. When he felt the brunet squirming from the lack of breath, he pulled back to look at his handiwork.

There the brunet looked absolutely flustered, a little trail of saliva dripping down his chin, and his breaths were ragged. His cheeks were pained in a deep shade of red and he swallowed for a moment to help get rid of his twitching. There was that sensation again, it was an odd sensation, Tsuna didn't get why he felt like that, and as much as he wanted to question Reborn about it, one look on the adult's face stated that he was downright speechless about something. The black-haired man looked absolutely horrified once his mind started to process what he had done. He had gone overboard, way overboard. He hadn't meant to do such terrible things, but he had gotten so into the kiss by accident that he…oh god, was he screwed.

"Reborn?" Tsuna could practically see the emotions running wild on the other's face. It was the first time he had ever seen something like that. Reborn was always that calm and collected person who was a bit on the dangerous and sarcastic side. It was weird. He liked his normal Reborn better. Smiling, in hopes it would diffuse the situation, he spoke. "Thanks. I know I was asking a lot, but I'm really happy that you went along."

The black-haired man sighed, getting his feelings straight immediately, and he returned the gesture. "I know, I know, but I still feel bad," he slowly stood up, feeling the cracks in his legs from remaining in that position for too long and reached down to Tsuna, waiting for the other to take his hand. "Come on, let's get you home. I still need to get you that ice-cream I promised, too."

Glad to see Reborn was regaining his usual self back, Tsuna grasped tightly onto those hands with a wide grin. "Okay!"

"Oh and before I forget, Tsuna." those dark eyes peered down at him in a dark fashion. "Do not tell this to anyone? Promise?"

"Pinky promise!"

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that and brought his other hand around, connecting the two pinkies together. "Yeah, pinky promise."

* * *

Tsuna liked to listen to the conversations at school, he was never one to be involved with anyone there, but it didn't mean he couldn't listen to them. It wasn't his fault that his fellow classmates were loud. Yamamoto and Gokudera were arguing in the background about something, most likely the usual stuff, and he knew better than to interrupt when things started to get heated. He had one too many bruises from their fights when he accidently got caught in the middle and would rather not try to explain what happened to Giotto and how it happened, much less prevent his overprotective brother from going out and killing his friends.

Reborn was harder to move by, the man was too smart and far too perspective. He knew the moment Tsuna stepped into the house that he had been hurt and wouldn't hesitate to demand answers until he got them, even in the sneakiest of ways. And he had seen what Reborn has done to his friends before, they were never beaten up, but were instead forced to do terrifying workouts. Tsuna remembered both of them being so tired after an encounter that they couldn't walk normally for a week or so since their muscles had been so used up.

Anyway, Tsuna listened to his fellow classmates and wandered about many things he was behind on. No one wanted to answer his questions and some he knew right away were too embarrassing to even bother. So he listened. There were so many conversations to filter through, trying to find the ones that had the more interesting topics. He eventually settled with two girls in the back, whispering to each other, but was luckily loud enough for Tsuna to pick up on. They were talking about their boyfriends and what they had done during their dates. It got so deep that Tsuna wiggled his nose in disgust, shaking his head to focus on something else, but he did get one thing out of it.

'French Kiss? Hmm…Might have to ask Reborn on that.'


	10. Year Ten

Tsuna sighed, staring at the board then to his group of friends. It was lunch time at the moment, but apparently due to the rush this morning for waking up late, he had forgotten his lunch. Of course, his friends had offered some of theirs, but he could only take so much without starting to feel bad. He didn't want to say anything, but the amount he received from them wasn't enough to fulfill his growling stomach. Normally, he could survive not having lunch until he got back home, but during his rush, all he had was a slice of toast and that was coming back to haunt him.

He groaned, trying to hide his hunger by putting on a poker face, but the growling was hard to hide. Tsuna didn't want to worry Gokudera and Yamamato anymore than needed when they were already eyeing him carefully, searching for signs that he was starving. It was hard since they were so attentive to him that it was scary at times.

Sometime during the lunch period, some students seemed to be rushing out, others wandering around to peek outside the door. This caught his attention as well, his curiosity of what could be drawing the students' attention like that rising. However, he remained in his seat, not willing to move. It probably wasn't even that important in the first place, he decided to himself. Tsuna simply guessed it was more likely one of the popular students of the school going down the hallway or someone making a fool of themselves, most likely the first since he didn't hear any laughter and the girls were looking like they were about to faint.

"Wonder what's going on…" Yamamoto asked out loud and tilted his head slightly when he heard a few of the girls squealing at something. His box of sushi, the usual he brought with him, was out in front on his desk with a pair of chopsticks in one hand. Leaning down, he plopped a piece into his mouth and chewed, still listening to his surroundings.

Gokudera just made a 'tch', completely ignoring the girls as they continued to swoon. He never liked them and never will, anyway, he had better things to do than wonder about what some idiotic women were looking at. Some were now running out which made the room less crowded, the sounds getting louder with each passing second. To him, girls were just annoyances and had some stalker fetishes since they enjoyed following him around.

Tsuna just leaned back towards the door, hoping to spot what was causing all the noise, but saw nothing. The amount of bodies that were surrounding the door blocked all view and he pulled back with a sigh. Still, it was odd that there was someone popular he wasn't aware of going around, normally the girls liked to stare at his two friends instead. Odd…But he didn't get to think far when a shadow suddenly came up behind him.

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna."

The brunet flinched at that and slowly twisted around with some paleness growing on his complexion. He could see his friends tensing at the sight of the person out of the corner of his eye and tilted his head further up to get a better look at the person who had bothered him. Tsuna almost let out a small squeak at the sight, but he held it in, Reborn's scolding still set in his mind.

It was one of his daily bullies that enjoyed stealing his money and had no fear of his friends who were sitting beside him. The bullies had stopped when he had befriended the two most popular students in school, but there were still a few braver ones that didn't care and would even try to get into a fight with Gokudera, Yamamoto rarely got involved, without a care. Those were the tougher ones to deal with and in Tsuna's opinion, more annoying. The brunet almost twitched, he was starting to think more and more like Reborn. 'I've been around him for almost nine years, I guess it's to be expected.'

"You've got some money with you, right? Hand it over, Dame-Tsuna. I forgot mine today." The bully smirked, holding out his hand in expectation.

Tsuna made a small sound from the back of his throat, he had nothing on him. He just hoped that this one wouldn't cause a scene in class of all places. "B-But I don't have any. I didn't even bring my lunch with me today." Tsuna tried to tell the truth, hoping he would be let off today and that his words would be good enough to send the person off. Most backed off at that since there was no point in bothering someone that didn't have anything. But the bully didn't go away and those narrowing of those eyes that made the brunet flinch, he knew this one was going to fight back. 'Just my luck…'

"Hey, leave the Tenth alone!" Gokudera growled, slamming his fists down onto his desk, and stood up to show he was ready for anything. The chains on his clothes rattled at his movement and his bright green eyes were set into that usual glare.

The baseball player wasn't smiling anymore and was instead glaring, sending shivers down the classmates who were nearby. No one had really seen Yamamoto's glares, they were a rarity and those that got them were promised a swift and painful punishment. Though it wasn't well known among the school, some knew that Yamamoto is a skilled swordsman and his beating of Mokuki for bullying Tsuna earlier that year was still fresh in many minds.

Even with all the obvious threats, the bully still didn't back down and reached forward to grasp Tsuna's collar. "Don't give me that bullshit! You must have something! Do you take me as a fool?" He then yanked the brunet up, earning a sharp cry, and he gave a laugh of enjoyment. The bully shook the teen before him repeatedly, making the head bob back and forth painfully, and the brunet was desperately trying to get himself steady by grasping the sides of the desk or his seat. Just when Gokudera had gotten around to yank Tsuna away from the fool, the bully shoved the younger student back into the chair - hard.

The brunet let out another cry as his back slammed into the side of the desk, holding back tears that were threatening to fall from his tear ducts, and looked up now in fear. He hadn't expected the bully to react in such a way, and towards him so violently, too. Reaching behind, he rubbed the sore spot tenderly, feeling the place burn in sensation, and winced each time he massaged it. He needed to get blood to flow there quickly before bruising occurred or any swelling, something he had retained from Reborn's lectures at him. Regardless, it was painful and his neck was throbbing from being whiplashed repeatedly. And this was just a regular occurrence of bullying in Tsuna's life.

"Tenth!" Gokudera immediately turned his attention to the brunet, checking over the wounded area, and offered words of comfort. Yamamoto did the same, going around the desk, and rubbed the back of Tsuna's neck, hoping that would help. When the silver-haired teen found that Tsuna was in good hands, he turned back to the bully with a growl, ready to send a powerful fist into that smug face.

However, he was beaten when he saw a foot come out of nowhere and slammed straight into the bully's back. Gokudera watched as his classmate went flying across the room and slam into the wall there, just missing the windows that might have broken and send the bully tumbling from the third floor. He wished the idiot had, it would have made things much easier. However, with that attack, everyone's attention turned to the intruder, looking over him carefully, and Tsuna could only brighten up in happiness when he saw who it was.

The bully growled, immediately getting up to his feet, and glared at the person before him. "What the? Who the hell are you?!"

Yamamoto was the first to say something, he recognized those features and clothes anywhere. He couldn't help but smile at the man's appearance. "Hey, Reborn."

The tall man stood at the previous spot the bully had been at, one hand inside his pocket, the other holding something, and looked impending to anyone that saw him. The glare on his expression sent shivers down everyone's spine, except for Tsuna, no, the brunet was just smiling happily. Those onyx eyes peered at the bully as if daring him to try anything before pulling his hand out to fix his fedora that had slid over. Reborn turned away and tilted his head slightly, just enough to get the curls on the side of his face to bounce.

The female population that had sneaked in to watch squealed at the sight, heart-shaped eyes staring.

The bully didn't seem to deter from the sudden appearance of Reborn and tried to glare back. However, he wasn't able to match the intensity of what the other had shown. "Hey, who the hell are you? And what was that for?" He stalked forward for an answer, fists squeezed tightly for a fight, except Reborn simply rose one of his long legs up again and kicked the idiot away. This time he made sure to aim for the head, knocking the bully to the ground to see stars. Seeing as the bully was groaning on the floor, he rotated towards Tsuna and eased up his threatening aura.

The teen stared in shock, it wasn't often that he got to see Reborn get to fight with someone, but at the same time, he had never seen the other lose either. After all, he knew and believed from the bottom of his heart that Reborn was the best at everything. Still, despite knowing that, he always got surprised at such things. He couldn't help it, it was just in his nature. Suddenly, something hard dropped onto his desk and that sound drew his attention towards the area in front of him. There he saw a box, wrapped in an orange cloth, and recognized it as a bento. It was his…Tsuna's stomach growled loudly at the thought.

Reborn smirked at that reaction, reaching over to pat the brunet on the head, ruffling those soft bouncy locks. "Nana told me when I woke up that you had forgotten to take your lunch to school today. So I simply offered to drop it off before heading to work today. And even if I didn't offer, Nana would simply ask me to do so and you know I can't say no to her. It's impossible." He huffed and folded his arms across his chest once he had pulled away from the brunet.

Reborn had risen up in the ranks of a company called Vongola, getting hired right after he had graduated from college. He had started off like any newly hired worker, but with his skills, mind, looks and sharpness, he was bumped up a rank. Then another, and another, until he finally made it to the role of Adviser to the CEO. And this all occurred within four months and now he was making more than enough money for someone his age, living in a fancy condo in the best part of town. Still, even with all those expensive things, Reborn seemed to enjoy staying over at the Sawada household more often than not and eating meals with them than heading to a five-star restaurant. Tsuna had a strong suspicion that if anything were to happen to the CEO, Reborn would more than likely be the next candidate for that job.

"O-Oh…Thanks, Reborn." The brunet smiled softly, looking down at his food, and then back up into those dark eyes with a slight tint on his cheeks. Even though it's been a year, he couldn't help but feel a little jiggery whenever the older man was around. He was much older now and more aware of his actions and the incident last year had finally worked its way back into his mind. Tsuna felt like a complete idiot for doing such a thing, and with Reborn of all people. Still, the other had allowed it to happen and never used it against the brunet and so the issue itself was buried. Well, somewhat.

He couldn't help but want to feel that odd tingling sensation on his lips from that time or that strange feeling he had felt in his body. And with that, he wanted to do it again. But he was never going to say that out loud, it was embarrassing after all. It was even worse when he first started realizing what he and Reborn had been doing from his constant questioning of what the classmates in his class were chattering about during their dates.

A grunt from the floor caught his attention and he pulled himself away from Reborn's face to look at the bully. His classmate was slowly getting back up, a stupid move in Tsuna's opinion, and managed to get back onto his feet. He was cursing Reborn out, which was completely idiotic, and Tsuna's honey-colored eyes turned to taller man. Reborn growled at the insults and took off his fedora, slamming it onto his friend's head.

The caramel-colored locks were squished into the confinement immediately and Tsuna couldn't help but think he looked a little funny with it on. His hair below was still coming out, wild in its natural self, and reached up to adjust it into a more pleasant spot. Yamamoto and Gokudera could only remain to the side, their eyes watching the scene with wonder and shock. The latter, of course, was cheering Reborn on when he realized what the other was up to.

"Be right back, Tsuna." The older man sneered, his dark aura back, and took a step forward towards the bully. With the sound of cracking knuckles, it was obvious as to what Reborn was planning on doing. As much as Tsuna wanted to stop him, he knew better and almost had a sense of satisfaction that his bully was about to get punished. His eyes went down towards his bento the moment the screaming and sounds of something being punched came. Unwrapping the cloth to the box, Tsuna opened the lid and smiled with hunger laced in his expression. It looked so good and his stomach growled once more in response. Offering a quick 'thanks', he dug right in.

He was about a quarter done when the screaming finally stopped, and he finally looked up. His eyes looked at the bully unconscious on the floor with numerous bruises here and there and then at Reborn, who was striding up to him. The older man looked the same as usual and didn't even have a bead of sweat running down his face. Tsuna snorted, that was just something normal with Reborn. Tilting his head down, he felt the fedora being lifted up off his head, his locks springing back out.

Automatically, Tsuna lifted up the chopsticks towards Reborn with a gentle beam. "Want some?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that, readjusting his fedora back onto his head, before nodding. "Sure." He took the offered pair of chopsticks from the brunet and picked up something within the box to eat. The older man took a seat on one of the desks, handing the utensils back so that Tsuna could get something. They quickly traded off each other with ease, unbothered by the sharing, well aware that they were getting looks from others in the room.

Yamamoto and Gokudera had woken up from the stupor and quickly went back to eating, not hesitating to announce how impressed they were with Reborn. The black-haired man just shrugged it off with a smirk, not bothering to reply to those statements. When he had enough, he looked down at his watch, checking for the time to make sure he had enough to work with. All through that, he hadn't notice the slightly growing redness on Tsuna's cheeks, the teen being well aware that they were sharing the same pair of chopsticks. Though, they often did it like it was natural, Tsuna knew the hidden meaning to it.

"You know, Tsuna," Reborn suddenly spoke up, catching the brunet's attention. "I haven't done this much fighting in quite a while. Didn't think that getting to you would be a pain in the ass."

Tsuna blinked at that and tilted his head almost in an adorable fashion with the end of the chopsticks still in his mouth. He hummed to himself, chewing momentarily, and found those words odd. Reborn had come to his school often right? No, wait, this was the first time he had come to his middle school. Plucking the utensils out, he opened his mouth to question, "What do you mean?"

"When I came here, I kept getting stopped by the Disciplinary Committee. They kept demanding me to leave even when I explained what I was trying to do. I got tired of hearing them that I just forced my way through." Reborn huffed, stating those words as if it was nothing.

Tsuna, however, paled at that and yet found that attitude of Reborn's to be normal. He just hoped that the other hadn't gone up against Hibari of all people, the leader of the Committee.

Reborn continued to speak as if nothing was wrong in the world. "Soon after, I met their leader, Hibari."

'Ah, too late.'

Not seeing the expression Tsuna or was purposefully ignoring it, he smirked. "That one a lot tougher than the other idiots around him, but he wasn't that difficult to get through either."

At that, Tsuna dropped his chopsticks in shock, the expression of surprise clear on him. Everyone else that was listening in had the same face, some being that of horror. "W-Wait! You defeated Hibari! How?!" Tsuna cried out, he knew from the rumors of Hibari that had gone around that the skylark was one tough cookie. The brunet even had a few run-ins with the teen. Hibari was known for going against adults, even yakuza, and winning with ease. Was Reborn really that powerful?

"How? It was easy. He's not that strong, his cousin Fong is more of a challenge than him," Reborn folded his arms and leaned back before catching sight of the clock. "Oh, better get going. Don't want to be late for work."

With that, the black-haired man reached over, snatching a little bit more food, a roll of eggs to be specific, and chucked it into his mouth. He smirked and licked his fingers, well aware of the squeals from behind.

Tsuna just pouted and watched as Reborn gave a small wave at him as he made his way of the classroom. He sighed, feeling depressed that the other was gone. Oh, he so wanted Reborn to stay a little bit longer, he always felt happier when he did. He didn't understand why though, it was like how he wanted Reborn to kiss him again. It was just so confusing.

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna, who was that? Is he a friend of yours?"

"Come on, give us the details. That man was soooo hot!"

The brunet blinked at the sudden attention on him and leaned back to get away from the girls that had sprang on him. "W-Well, his name is Reborn."

His classmates lighted up at that, whispering among each other happily, and were still eyeing him for more.

Tsuna twitched and then looked back down at his bento. He didn't like the way those girls were asking about Reborn, it made him feel…he didn't know what it was. It was strange. And it was still about Reborn, too. That man just made him feel all bizarre. Biting his bottom lip, he looked back up at vultures to respond. "But he already has someone."

He knew he was lying and yet the sensation of feeling proud of doing such a thing didn't leave him. The girls immediately backed off, deflating in defeat, and some were whispering 'Of course he would be taken by now' under their breaths. Tsuna went back to staring at his bento, still confused over why he had lied in the first place. He knew better than anyone else that Reborn was still single. His shoulders slumped, still thinking to himself as he continued to try and eat.

Tsuna didn't want anyone to take Reborn from him, was it just him being selfish or was there something more? After all, he cared and loved the man too much to let him get out of his life, Reborn was his best friend, his older brother, someone that cared about him dearly.

The brunet decided that for the first time that if someone tried to take Reborn away from him, he wouldn't hesitate to fight back, forcefully so if necessary. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he went back to eating.


	11. Year Eleven

Reborn stretched from his position, yawning softly, and shifted slightly in bed before settling into a single place to get comfortable. It was a weekend, a no-work day for him, and it was cold outside with snow falling gently from the windows. The world beyond the glass was pure white, snow covering everything it touched, and the clouds was a dark grey instead of the usual bright blue. And yet, despite all the discoloration, it was wonderful to the man's eyes. It was such a beautiful sight compared to the normal dull grey of the buildings. He peeked at the clock on his nightstand, finding it only eight in the morning, and thought to himself whether or not if he wanted to stay in bed.

Before long, he made a small huff and snuggled deeper into the thick blankets, finding it incredibly warm compared to the rest of the condo and the air surrounding him. He turned slightly to face the other direction and then paused. Reborn remained still, unsure on what to think about the situation before him, and continued to stare. There, on the other side of his bed, spiky brown locks sticking out from underneath the blankets. The head was completely covered and he could hear the soft sounds of breathing, alerting him that the person was fast asleep.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sight, knowing that that hair could only belong to one person. Reaching over, he pulled the sheets down slightly to get a better look and smiled softly at the sight. Tsuna was curled up tightly on his side of the bed; face buried into the pillow, and had a small pout on his lips as he slept. The older man was so close that he was able to make out the individual strands of the eyelashes and watched them flutter slightly at whatever dream the brunet was having. A few locks of hair fell down onto the face, tickling the teenager gently, enough so to make him move around to get rid of the feeling. At that, Reborn reached over to let his warm hands run along the soft cheeks and chuckled at the slight squirming that resulted.

He listened to the brunet make a little sound and eventually nudged closer to his body for warmth, gently rubbing up against him as if he was some sort of pillow. It was cute, Reborn would admit, letting his fingers run through the soft hair, enjoying that soft silk-like feeling the strands brought to him. Very cute. The man quickly shook his head at that, no, he couldn't be having those sorts of thoughts, not towards Tsuna of all people. Yes, the brunet was adorable and so very understanding of him, but Tsuna was a teenager…and he was an adult. Reborn sighed loudly in frustration, stopping his movement as he turned away and peered up at the ceiling. Tsuna was nothing like those other women he had dated in the past; they were too clingy and never knew when he wanted space. Tsuna was clingy, but it was cute how he did so, and always knew when Reborn wanted space. The women didn't like it when he brushed them off, Tsuna didn't seem to mind and was a little cunning in getting Reborn to come right back. The women liked to give the same expressions, the seductive smiles and stupid laugh, but Tsuna…

Reborn grumbled to himself, peering back down at the brunet momentarily before closing his eyes to turn away. He really couldn't be thinking of such things and about Tsuna of all people. The brunet was an innocent person, he didn't know anything about the type of person Reborn really was…or maybe he did…The black-haired man rolled to the side, facing away from Tsuna and looked out at the window to watch the snow continuously fall as those tiny flakes gather up at the bottom of his ledge very slowly and touched his window, only to melt away from the heat inside. It was peaceful right now, the normal sounds of traffic and people outside was gone or so muffled by the snow that he could no longer hear them. The stillness was really nice, it was like the whole world had fallen into a deep slumber, and he appreciated it.

As he continued to stare with his mind drifted off onto different topics, he hadn't felt a pair of arms wrapping around him until he had a body pressed close up against his back. Reborn moved his head up in surprise and slowly twisted it around to peer down at the brunet, who had moved again during his sleep. Apparently, he was going to be used as a pillow and shifted uncomfortably when he felt a leg rose a little higher between his own when Tsuna began to curl around him. It was an innocent action, one that Tsuna wasn't aware of doing, and that made things so, _so_ much harder. With women, Reborn knew exactly what they wanted, what they desired from him, it was too clear, but with Tsuna, the brunet wanted nothing but his presence. It was a sweet concept, but it could get a little frustrating on his part.

'Ah, what am I thinking…' Reborn rolled around to see the brunet better and noticed that the sleepy eyes were now open, staring up at him curiously as they rapidly blinked to clear their vision. The two stared at each other, neither of them saying anything until Tsuna tilted his head and shifted to snuggle closer against the older man.

"Good morning, Reborn…" The teenager muttered under his breath, yawning at the end of his words. He made a small stretch; moving his feet to spread his toes, before going straight back into his previous position. "You're not…getting up anytime soon, are you?"

The older man simply stared at the sleepy eyes and the small but full lips. He mentally shook his head before responding. "No, I'm not."

"Good." Tsuna simply went back to cuddling against the other, budging over more so that he could wrap his arms all around Reborn's waist, and placed his head onto the shoulder as if it was a pillow. Reborn had never minded before so he figured it would be the same now too. The older man, like the brunet expected, didn't say anything towards the action and allowed everything to happen without a second thought. Instead, the black-haired man's left arm went around Tsuna's body and pulled the younger one closer against him, enjoying the physical warmth that formed between them.

It was the winter holidays and that meant freedom from school on Tsuna's side and boy was the brunet taking advantage of the time. Almost every day they were together either at Reborn's place or Tsuna's, though they seemed to enjoy being alone more often without any interruptions from outsiders. Tsuna didn't mind, he had already thought up plans to go through so that he could spend as much time as possible with Reborn and still be with his friends. Apparently, whenever Reborn had to go to work, it was around that time that the brunet would make his rounds to each person or an individual he knew, and when the raven was coming back, Tsuna would leave to head over. It was a brilliant system that seemed to be working and none of Tsuna's friends or family seemed to mind.

Nana didn't care that she didn't get much chance to see her darling son and instead tried to push the two together more often than not. Other times, she would offer to cook food for the older man whenever he came over, making sure to give leftovers so that Reborn would never go hungry when she wasn't around. Or if Tsuna came over during the times Reborn was at work, she would package something for him to bring over to share.

Tsuna sighed as he listened to the soft lull of Reborn's heart, the thumps already becoming a comforting sound he was used to. It was nice and it made him almost want to go back to sleep once more. But he wasn't as tired as before and anyway, it wasn't often that he was able to see Reborn's drifting expression, trying to fight going back to sleep. His honey-colored eyes trailed on the other, watching as the onyx ones closed gently, almost in defeat. Reborn's head rolled over against Tsuna's hair and seemed to bury his face into the soft locks, finding it more silk-like in feeling than the pillow sheets.

'Reborn is really too handsome for his own good.' The brunet sighed to himself, placing his chin up onto the chest gently so he wouldn't be accidently rubbing the bone part in. He was older now, he knew much more than before than when he was younger and of course, that sex education class had really opened up his eyes. And he hadn't realized what many of the innocent things he had asked of Reborn in the past really were about until then. It was too clear now, his blushing responses, the quickness in his heart rate whenever the other looked at him only, and the jealousy whenever someone else was around Reborn, it all connected to one thing.

He was in love.

Tsuna cheeks turned red at that thought, immediately burying his face into Reborn's chest to hide that fact. His heart was already beating painfully fast within his chest and he hoped that the other hadn't seen his little plight much less wake back up. It was terrible enough that he was feeling like this, it would be worse if Reborn was to find out. Still…Tsuna peeked up to look at Reborn and paused. Apparently, the other had fallen back asleep during the brunet's mental breakdown and was breathing softly, telling Tsuna that Reborn wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

'Curse my affection.' Still, the brunet didn't move from his spot, wanting to remain close. And anyway, this was so much warmer than sleeping in thick blankets, Reborn's body was just too hot. While, the teenager was complimenting on something, he hadn't realized that Reborn had rolled around to face him until his head was shifted. His honey-colored eyes trailed up at the face, mapping it out happily, and was tempted to reach up to touch the warm skin and those signature curls. Instead, the brunet simply nudged closer to the body and buried his face into the chest. With a few careful flicks of his wrist on the other side of Reborn's body, he managed to get the covers closer up to their necks and silently chuckled.

It was a good day after all. Even better now that he was up against Reborn, no point in getting up just yet. That's right, Tsuna told himself, he had Reborn to keep him company. Now, he just had to do something about that annoying secretary that kept trying to seduce his crush during work. He had only found out about it a few days ago through a phone call and had asked Reborn about it. The older man didn't mind laying out the answers and didn't seem to notice the odd narrowing of eyes the brunet had yielded in return.

Tsuna couldn't help but pouted at the memory, looks like he would have to do some plotting to prevent Reborn from falling in love with someone else. But he was expecting towards such things. He'll just have to get some advice from some of his friends while not giving away the name of his affection at the same time. Hopefully, they'd be good enough. If not, then he'd have to be around to prevent such things. After all, Reborn'd always paid more attention to him than to anyone else. He'll have to take advantage of that.

* * *

"Excuse me," The secretary at the front peered up curiously, unable to help but raise an eyebrow at the sight before her. This was Vongola, a top company, why would there a teenager at the front of all times? She nodded her head to tell Tsuna she had heard and momentarily stopped typing on her computer before her. The screen reflected off her glasses near the bottom, giving her a sophisticated look. "Ah, do you think you can tell me which floor Reborn is on?"

Ah, that name. It was the name of her many troubles, current and future. She rolled her eyes at the boy before her and shook her head. "Look, kid. I'm not letting anyone go near that man. I already have enough trouble with those admirers trying to get in to give him things, I don't need more to deal with."

"Eh?" Tsuna blinked his eyes at that and momentarily looked down at the wrapped bento box in a bag before going back up. "But I'm actually Reborn's friend."

"And that's the same thing everyone else has repeated to me as well," The secretary sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. The kid was cute, but that didn't mean she was going to allow the other to do what he pleased. She had a job to do after all. "If you have something to give to him, please leave it here. I'll send it up with the rest of the gifts."

"I-I see," Tsuna sighed and reached into his pocket for his phone, getting a little desperate. This was already a hinder to his plan already. "Man, I was going to try and surprise him, but I guess that's out of the question." Dialing the familiar number he knew by heart, he placed the receiver up to his ear, ignoring the curious look from the woman beside him. He listened to ringing in the background, hoping that Reborn wasn't busy or out, and perked up when he heard that click of it being received.

" _Tsuna? What is it? It's unusual for you to call me like this."_

"Ah, well…" The brunet blushed slightly at the fact he was talking to Reborn and smiled gently. He was concentrating on the conversation only, zoning out on the rest of the world. "I was kinda…hoping to surprise you with my appearance, but I'm um…not allowed to come up."

" _What do you mean?"_

"I'm downstairs on the first floor of the company you're working at. I was hoping to give you some lunch. I helped Mom…make it." Tsuna muttered, feeling embarrassed at having to do this, but he would suck it up. He had to do this after all.

There was a pause on the other side and then some shuffling that caught the brunet's attention. Tsuna could hear a door slam occur soon after and footsteps that he could pick up. He tilted his head at that, curious on what was going on, that was, until Reborn spoke again. _"Tsuna, stay where you are. I'm coming to get you myself."_

"Eh? There's no need for you to do so." The brunet almost yelled into the phone, earning some attention from the guards and those passing by. Some even sent him a glare for being so loud and Tsuna almost screeched until he heard a pleasant chuckle on the other side.

" _No, I want to pick you up. Stay there, I'm in the elevator heading down already. Though, you must tell me, what made you suddenly decide to come see me? I mean, we practically live together."_

Tsuna blushed again at that, his hesitation clear. He was pulling the phone closer to his lips as if trying to share a secret he didn't want anyone else to hear. It was embarrassing after all. "Um well…it just gets so…so…"

"So what?" A rough voice spoke from behind, startling the brunet, who made a loud squeak and jumped, almost dropping his phone in shock. Immediately, Tsuna rotated around to catch sight of Reborn standing there in his normal suit with a large smirk and glared. Though to the older man, it just looked like a pout, and he was tempted to reach over and pat the head. Many eyes turned to the two, many of the women who were in the area stopped to squeal at the sight of the handsome Reborn donning his presence in person while others just shook their head at how everything was.

Tsuna bit down on his bottom lip, looking a little freaked out by the amount of attention they were getting, hesitating on replying back. Reborn made a slight hum to himself and wrapped an arm around Tsuna's shoulder, dragging the brunet off to the elevator to head back to his office. It was more private there than anywhere else. That and he didn't like how some eyes seemed to stray to Tsuna's petite yet cute form. It made his chest burn in anger and he made sure to not lash out accidently. As the elevator doors closed, Reborn turned back to the brunet, nudging him gently to get that answer he wanted.

Tsuna's face turned red again, feeling uncomfortable at saying such words, but he knew it was for the best. "L-Lonely. It just gets so lonely without you around. A-And I don't really want to…share you with anyone else."

Now that wasn't what Reborn had been expecting and for a sudden, he felt his heart race at those words. Tilting his fedora down to cover his eyes, he gave a smirk. "I see. Then I shall give you a badge to allow you full access to my place. Now you won't be stopped whenever you enter and if I'm not there, just stay in my office. I won't mind."

"R-Really?" Hopeful eyes peered up at the raven eagerly, a clear smile on those lips.

"Yeah," The black-haired man chuckled and reached down, patting the top of the head, ruffling that soft hair. "Come anytime."

* * *

The horror on that secretary's expression when she walked in on Reborn sleeping on Tsuna's lap was very amusing to the brunet. He smiled happily, looks like he wouldn't have to do much on his planning.


	12. Year Twelve

Tsuna was never the popular one, never. He was just another person within the sea of others. But he had friends, close friends that only went up to five in number, but that was fine with him. He'd rather have a few close friends than a large number of them where he wasn't familiar with any. Still, even with Gokudera and Yamamoto, who always were beside him, Tsuna craved for the attention of his crush, Reborn. No one had really found out about his adoring love…except Giotto.

"So little brother, when are you going to grow some and confess?" The blonde grinned as he willingly teased his younger sibling. Giotto was now eighteen, in the last year of his high school, and was already trying to pick out universities to continue his education. He was much taller now, the blond locks had grown out towards the shoulder, but it kept that same spikiness. No matter how much gel Giotto used to push it down, it remained where it was at.

Tsuna peered up from his bed in confusion, his mind going over the words, before it finally connected. His face flushed bright red up to his ears and he let out a squeak. "G-Giotto!"

The blonde just continued to grin and stepped closer, stopping right in front of the brunet with his arms on his sides. "You heard me. I know about that crush of ours. It's too obvious for me to not see it. Perhaps no one else can since they don't know you as well, but I recognize when I see something different."

The brunet didn't reply to that.

"So when are you going to tell him?" The blonde flopped down onto the bed, letting his body jump at the mattress's springs below. When he saw that his brother wasn't going to reply again, he wrapped an arm around the shoulders to catch the attention and to prevent Tsuna from trying to run away. It was too clear that his younger brother would. "Look, Tsuna, you need to at least have your feelings out there for him to know before someone else comes by to steal him away. You can't be with Reborn forever and watch out for thieves after all."

Tsuna peered up carefully at that, his face still dusted with red. "B-But I'm normally with him except during school days. And there was a secretary at Reborn's work place that was recently hired that I…" There was a slight narrowing of his honey-colored eyes, a light glow of orange mixed in, and for a moment, Giotto almost backed away. He hadn't seen Tsuna get this angry before, no, he had never seen Tsuna get angry in the first place. He had always known the brunet to be kind and sweet, a person that allowed others to walk all over him. It was generally Reborn who didn't allow that and beat anyone who dared try to. Still, if Tsuna was getting this upset over something, that means…

"So I take it someone has already tried?" Giotto whispered, hoping that nothing had happened and only the best resulted out of the mess. He'd rather not see Tsuna heartbroken and falling apart, much less see what a grudge can do to him. Not all people dealt with anger the same way. While Giotto could redirect it or hold it in, what would Tsuna do?

Tsuna snapped his head towards his older brother, almost growling. "No! Absolutely not! I made her know that Reborn is mine!" He puffed out his cheeks, nodding his head rapidly to himself as he thought back to the many instances where he continuously prevented the cursed woman from getting too close. He wouldn't give up to some hag like her, not when it came to Reborn.

The blonde blinked in surprise, not expecting his little brother to already be taking action against someone. It was even harder to see Tsuna so pissed off at something, but it was cute regardless. Patting the brunet on the back, he gave a little bit of comfort before speaking once more. He wanted Reborn and Tsuna to get together, though he originally didn't like the idea and despised it with all his heart, but it was watching them grow up together that made him change his mind. He wanted the best for his little brother, nothing less, and he had no doubt in his mind that Reborn would take care of the brunet regardless. It was clear to Giotto that the raven had some feelings for Tsuna with the way Reborn hung around him, always making sure to keep him happy. He didn't see it at first, but after being around the other for so long, it was quite clear. "Tsuna, why don't you go watch a movie with him and give Reborn some alcohol to drink? You can get him to loosen up and learn a few secrets or some troublesome thieves that want to try and take Reborn away from you."

The younger brother stared for a few moments before breaking out into a grin. That sounded perfect! "Thank you so much, Giotto! I'll try it out tonight! Got to go! Reborn should be coming home from work soon!" Within seconds, Tsuna was racing around the room to grab his bag and a movie before running out the door. There was a yell of words towards Nana and then a slam on the door. Silence only followed, the blonde left behind in shock by how fast Tsuna had reacted, before breaking out into laughter soon after. He hadn't thought that advice would work best, but there was no harm. He had no doubt that Reborn had more than enough control of his drunken state to not do something stupid. Giotto was confident in that…or at least he hoped so.

* * *

Tsuna had everything set up ten minutes before Reborn came home. He even texted the other that he was waiting just to make sure that the black-haired man wouldn't accidentally run late without letting him know. He had a movie ready and the drinks Reborn kept in his cabinets out to be served anytime. A thick glass was set on the same table with the bottles and some flavored popcorn was already going off in the microwave, the popping sounds echoing throughout the room. The scent of it was engulfing and Tsuna's stomach almost growled at the thought of eating it.

Just as he was about to sit down on the couch, the door clicked. Perking up, he poked his head over the sofa and stared at the door as it opened, revealing the one person he wanted to see the most.

Reborn smirked, taking off his jacket to hang it on the coat rack, and placed his briefcase onto the floor. He locked the door behind him and pulled off his fedora, running a hand through his spiky hair. "You know, at this rate, I might as well claim you as my wife. You're always here ready to greet me as well as visit me at my office." He placed his famous hat onto the kitchen counter and placed his shoes in their regular spot on the floor so that in the morning he wouldn't have to really look for them. Even his tie came off too, leaving Reborn only in his pants and button-up shirt.

"Is that a good thing or bad?" Tsuna questioned, not wanting to upset the other. He knew better than anyone else that Reborn was very picky about things and there were times, he wondered if he was smothering too much.

The older man smirked and settled down onto the couch, reaching over immediately to grab a bottle. Yanking the cork out, he poured the thick liquid into the prepared glass. "No, it's a good thing. I don't normally like clingy people, but yours is quite…cute. And your clinginess is in a good way, not annoying." Reborn smirked, placing the bottle back down to swish his glass carefully before finally taking a sip. Liquor was just what he needed after a hard day of work with multiple idiots. He really needed a better assistant, the ones he kept firing and hiring were all idiots after his good looks. He didn't care at first, but none of them were ever getting their work done and it was annoying. His eyes peered at Tsuna…perhaps the brunet could learn, but then there was school that was in the way. Still, if Tsuna could take over during the afternoon and handle things, it would make his workload a whole lot easier to deal with. 'Hmm, now that's an idea.'

"Ah, good. If I ever start to annoy you, please let me know." Tsuna opened the microwave when it started to beep, the popcorn bag hot and ready to be opened. Steam was coming out of the top and when he momentarily shook it, more pops could be heard. He went through the cabinets and pulled out a large bowl, pouring the contents inside. Now all he had to do was start the movie and everything would be perfect. Reborn grabbed a few pieces here and there after Tsuna sat down while watching the movie, not minding how relaxing everything was. But he couldn't complain, after a hard day of work that involved morons and paperwork, it was nice to do something like this without a single thought on his mind. And with Tsuna around, it just made that feeling surface much easier and he could let down the barriers he had built up to protect himself without care, knowing that the brunet would do nothing to him. If there was one person he trusted the most, it was Tsuna.

About halfway into the movie, when Reborn had managed to drown himself with three bottles, the raven accidentally began to mutter words under his breath about one thing or another. He hadn't expected himself to drink that much, but being with Tsuna just made him wanted to do so. It was that entertaining and carefree. And he didn't care, not anymore. However, when he was going to start his fourth bottle, Tsuna snatched it away, yelling that he taken too much, and dangled it out of range. Of course, Reborn didn't like that and tried to yank the bottle back into his grasp, hating to waste just good alcohol regardless of the fact that he had already finished three other bottles. However, due to his drunken state, he accidentally pulled Tsuna down as well, having the brunet tumbling on top of him.

Tsuna let out a squeak in shock, not expecting it, but groaned in annoyance soon after when he saw that his crush was still trying to grab that wine bottle. He knew that a drunken Reborn would be a little tougher to handle, but it was well worth the risk if he got what he desperately needed. Wrenching the bottle back, he fell against the couch, his head hitting the arm of the sofa. Luckily for him, the arm was cushioned and it didn't hurt, but it still left him a little dazed. It was during that time that the other took advantage of, however due to Reborn's blurry vision and intoxicated mind, he missed and instead landed on Tsuna's stomach face first.

"Reborn!" The younger man yelled out, growing irritated with Reborn's sudden childish attitude, and tossed the bottle far away from those grabby hands. Those black eyes stared at the rolling bottle, but didn't move. No, Reborn remained where he was at, not wanting to bother getting up when he was too comfortable at this moment in his current position. It was warm after all and he had always enjoyed having Tsuna close by like this. Reborn wrapped his arms around the brunet's waist, burying himself further, and gave a small smile as he squeeze Tsuna tightly. The so-called cushion huffed, "Reborn, I'm not a pillow."

"Eh." The older man didn't budge, making a small grumbling sound, and pulled Tsuna closer to him regardless of the resistance.

The younger man protested under his breath, but didn't do much, letting the other do whatever he wanted. He knew better when dealing with this rare side of Reborn, but at least he had managed to get the other exactly where he wanted him. "Hey, Reborn, I have a question, are you romantically interested in anyone right now?"

Reborn shifted at that, hazy black eyes peering up at the brunet questionably, before heading back into his previous position. It was clear that the alcohol had taken its full effect on his mind. "Kinda…"

"Kinda?" A jolt of fear ran down Tsuna's spine.

"Yeah, I like someone, but I'm afraid that this person might reject me. I'm waiting for the signs to see if everything would work out."

Tsuna's shoulders sank at that thought, afraid that he might already lose his crush to someone else. "Will I have to move away if you fall in love with this person?"

There was a soft chuckle, the sound and movement vibrating against the abdomen. "Absolutely not. You'll come live with me after you graduate from high school."

The brunet tilted his head at that, almost wanting to laugh.

"You know, Tsuna, I'm going to be honest," Reborn muttered with ease, not sure why he was suddenly saying such stupid things. "I'd really be upset if you were to leave me. I'd make sure to strap you down to this place so that you can never run away."

Tsuna blinked in confusion. "Why would I ever want to run away in the first place, Reborn? I love it here and I lov - I mean I'd miss you, too." The teenager winced. He had almost said that he loved Reborn, too. That would be bad at this point of time, or at least, in this situation. There was no telling what drunken Reborn would do or say.

"Maybe in the future when you find out about how I truly feel about you."

"What do you mean?" Tsuna waited for the response, but it never came and when he looked down, he twitched. Reborn had fallen fast asleep on him, gently snoring away in dreamland, still using the stomach as a pillow. The raven refused to budge, snuggling into the brunet's belly without a single care in the world, and seemed at peace. Apparently, the excessive amount of alcohol had done more than making Reborn fall apart. But whatever, it had served its purpose, that was all Tsuna cared about. Running his hands through his crush's spiky black hair, he turned his head to continue watching the movie.


	13. Year Thirteen

Tsuna didn't realize the number of idiots Reborn had to deal with from day to day at work. He only got to see that when he started working after school to help his crush out and he was beginning to see why Reborn sometimes looked so frustrated when he came back. At work, the raven was looked up to, sought after, and chased after. But no matter what, no matter the frustration he experienced, he appeared as gentlemanly as possible, and tried to not let his emotions slip through. However, the black-haired man was thrilled when Tsuna started helping out, clearing up the documents the idiotic secretaries were clearly not doing. The brunet had taken some enjoyment in firing them off, taking some pleasure in seeing them so miserable after all the trouble they caused for him and Reborn.

The black-haired man found himself laughing more often with Tsuna around. There was also the extra food the brunet would bring over from home that either he and/or Nana cooked up and it was excellent each and every time. All in all, Reborn didn't mind anything Tsuna did and he allowed him to do whatever he wanted without a care in the world, knowing that his stack of work had shrunk since Tsuna's arrival. On the days when the brunet didn't have school, such as the holidays, he would work fulltime like now, since it was the summer.

At first, Tsuna had been hesitant at leaving his mother alone for such a long period of time seeing that Giotto went off to university, but then came the adoption of Fuuta, an adorable little homeless kid that both Sawada's found on the street one stormy morning. Nana had taken a clear liking to him immediately and invited him inside to stay with them, swallowing him up in that overwhelming love of hers. The young sandy-blond child never needed to leave his newfound home, getting all the love and attention a kid could ask for and more. Of course, that didn't meant Tsuna didn't love Fuuta, oh, he did, like an older brother. Sometimes, it was just as overwhelming as Nana, giving the younger boy plenty of hugs even when they were unneeded and even helping Fuuta whenever Nana couldn't.

Still, with the new presence at home, Tsuna didn't feel as guilty when leaving to head to work, enjoying his newfound freedom with Reborn as much as possible. During the school-free days, Tsuna would many times sleep over at the raven's place and head to work together in the same car. After work, they would either, head out for dinner at a restaurant, pick up some fast-food or just head home to cook. Well, Tsuna would cook. On Reborn's free days where he didn't have work, they would go out to the theaters or maybe even a park, whichever they felt like. It was like they were having dates and Tsuna loved each one, keeping himself attached to the older man as often as possible. He didn't want to let go, just in case some woman came along to steal him way. He wouldn't allow it, not at all.

"Oh? Is this the worker I've been hearing about?"

Tsuna blinked, lifting his head up away from the documents he had been sorting out on the computer, to see an old man standing before him. The man was definitely well aged compared to the other workers he had seen in this building with white hair on his head and a mustache. But despite that, he had a kind expression that seemed welcoming and Tsuna almost wanted to smile back at the look the other sent him. "Hello…"

The man just chuckled at the hesitation Tsuna showed and stepped closer with his cane leading the way. "My name is Timoteo; it's nice to meet you."

"Ah, I'm Tsuna," The brunet, though didn't know what was going on, minded his manners for Reborn's company appearance and continued to stare in confusion. From what Tsuna could guess, or at least speculate, the man appeared important from the way the people who passed by his door ran off the moment they saw Timoteo, but he didn't understand. "Are you here to see Reborn?"

"Actually, yes, I was hoping to talk to him about something important. Do you mind letting him know I'm here?"

"Sure." Tsuna reached over to the phone, lifting it up to call Reborn from within his office to alert his crush. When he had first arrived here in training, it was awkward at first. He had to learn all the procedures, the manners, everything about this company. But after a while, he got the hang of everything. It wasn't hard and he did enjoy his job since it gave him the chance to spend more time with Reborn.

Tsuna gave a short message to Reborn over the phone and before long his so-called boss was stepping out of the office with a sharp nod towards the elderly man. Timoteo gave a warm smile towards the brunet before heading in, closing the door behind, clearly stating to Tsuna that the conversation the two were about to share was going to be done between them only. The teenager didn't pay much attention to it since this wasn't the first occurrence, there had been plenty of private conversations in the past, and went back to work. He was almost done, just a few more documents to sort through, and there was only a two hours left before Reborn and himself could head back to their shared home. Tsuna smiled at the thought, he had long considered the condo as his own seeing as he spent more time there than at his own house. It is a wonderful place filled magnificent memories with Reborn.

Before long, everything was done for the day and Tsuna could finally sit back and relax until tomorrow when he had to come back in. The calls generally stopped ringing the closer it got to closing time though there were a few idiots here and there who would try to make those last minutes ones to book appointments or ask questions. But so far, there hadn't been any. The place was completely quiet, which left Tsuna with nothing better to do except stare at the clock on the computer, wishing it would move faster. To cure his boredom, he double clicked on the internet browser and immediately began exploring.

About thirty minutes in, the door finally opened and the sound of the metal creaking focused his attention on the two inside, trying to hear the conversation through the small opening. Timoteo looked like he was about to leave, his hand on the doorknob, but seemed to stop to say something on his way out. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Reborn. It's good to see that you're doing well like always. Here I was worried for nothing and that new secretary of yours is quite adorable. He seems like a real worker for someone like you."

Tsuna blushed at the compliment, a warm fluttering sensation growing at the pit of his stomach. A bright smile slipped onto his mouth, his lips curving upward, and he gently clapped his hands together, raising it to his lips. He was useful, he had earned and moved himself upwards to be considered that, and a sense of pride began to fill him up from within. A slight, almost near silent, hum kept his mind off other things, still able to hear the conversation that was going on within.

"Ah, thank you. Tsuna has been very good to me even before getting hired. He's actually a childhood…friend of mine," Tsuna noticed the slight pause in Reborn's tone when he said 'friend' and leaned closer to listen, his interest sparked. He didn't understand why his crush would do such a thing. "I don't like to go against the rules of this company by hiring friends, but Tsuna is more qualified than those bimbos who keep drooling at the sight of me. They never do their work and instead create more from their various attempts at getting my attention. Tsuna doesn't do any of that, something I really appreciate, and I can get him to cook me something in one of the kitchens here anytime, which he never minds. It's a win-win situation for me."

The elderly chuckled at that, pulling away from the doorknob to head back to Reborn. "I heard that you drive him home after work or in during the morning. By any chance, do you live together? I'm quite curious. It seems from the rumors that wherever you are, Tsuna isn't too far behind or vice versa."

Reborn gave a huff at the comment. Tsuna's ear picked up a familiar sound, the crinkling of the clothes, and assembled that Reborn had folded his arms. "To an extent; he likes staying at my place all the time, he practically lives there. He could get his own room, but he seems to take more enjoyment in sleeping in mine. But when he's there, he takes care of all the cleaning and cooking, he's kinda like my wife."

Timoteo laughed whole-heartedly in amusement. "Then perhaps you should marry him! He seems like a good influence to you."

There was a pause on Reborn's end and then quietness as if the Advisor was thinking of something. But that wasn't possible, Tsuna told himself, Reborn always had an answer to everything. He was tempted to get up from his seat to hear better, curiosity starting to win him over. There was also the fact that Tsuna wanted to know what Reborn's response would be due to his feelings he held for Reborn. Would it be good? Or bad? He needed to know whether Reborn felt the same for him or not. That single thought had been tormenting him for a long time, sometimes creating nightmares during the middle of the night where dreams of Reborn leaving him left him haunted and empty.

"Oh? What's this?" Timoteo chuckled, stepping closer to the Adviser by the sounds of his footsteps, and patted Reborn on the shoulder. "Quiet? Or perhaps you wish for those words to be true? That you want Tsuna to be your wife?"

"Stop that, will you? Don't say such things when you don't know anything." The black-haired man shoved the arm away and made his way back to his desk to finish his paperwork. However, halfway he paused when Timoteo continued to speak.

"I take it that you have feelings for your so-called friend? I thought you were better than this, Reborn. I never knew you as the type to shy away from things. Just say it and get it over with. I'm certain the results will be exactly what you want or desire in a sense. You were never the type to give up or fail." The elderly man snickered, it was like he was making fun of Reborn, and yet wasn't. It was clear to Tsuna that those words were fond in nature and was an effort to push the other man along. But just hearing it left the brunet frozen. His breath was held tightly, wanting to know the next response. Was it true? That perhaps Reborn held more feelings towards him than just friends? The brunet whispered wishes within his mind, praying, hoping, that it was true.

"Don't say anymore of this subject. It's none of your business."

The older man sighed. "Reborn, just do it. I can tell it's conflicting with you. You're my top employee, my Adviser, and when I retire, you'll be the new CEO of this company," Tsuna almost gasped out loud when he heard those words. CEO? Timoteo was the CEO of Vongola? "I may be old in my years, but with this age, I have gained something else. My experience and knowledge allows me to see through many things, including you, Reborn. You, my old friend, are in love with Tsuna."

With a light chuckle, Timoteo exited the room, knowing he had given the youngsters a head start on figuring things out for themselves. He peered back at Reborn's shocked look momentarily, taking in the rare feature, before glancing towards the brunet. The elderly man could see the equally shocked expression and gave a tender nod before heading out, almost like he was skipping happily.

The brunet remained where he was at for a few moments before jumping up from his desk to rush into the room. His eyes went straight to Reborn, whose back was facing him, and closed the door behind them, the click somewhat startling the raven out of his daze. The Adviser rotated around, looking at Tsuna with questioning eyes, trying to appear as normal as possible to not give away the emotions that were scattered in his eyes.

"S-So, is it true?" Tsuna asked, hesitation lacing his voice as he stared ahead. He wanted to know. He so wanted to, and there was no way he was going to back out from getting his answer. It was now or never, in a sense.

Reborn took a step back, not sure on how to answer it. He wanted to say 'yes', he really did, but then the thoughts of rejection kept creeping back into his mind. He didn't want to lose Tsuna. Tsuna, the person he cared for so deeply and loved with all his heart. He wanted Tsuna, he wanted to do all sorts of terrible things to him, he wanted to see Tsuna scream out his name during the moments of pleasure. He wanted it, all of it. But it was just a simple wish, right? There was no way his crush would return the same feelings back.

"Reborn?" Stepping forward, the brunet got to a few feet away from the other and peered curiously straight into those dark eyes. "Please tell me. I want to know."

"It's…true. I do like you, Tsuna," The older man sighed, closing his eyes so that he couldn't see anything. He didn't want to see Tsuna's disappointed face. "I really do-Ugh!"

The raven's speech was cut off when something crashed straight into his body, knocking him right off his feet and onto the floor. He let out a startled yelp, his back slamming against the carpet, just barely missing the sharp end of the desk, and he let out a grunt in pain. His fedora had flown off, sliding away from him, and he could feel a heavy weight sinking against his body that almost felt like it was trying to crush him. His dark eyes opened up to glare at the so-called attacker and stared in question. There, was Tsuna, hugging him tightly as if afraid to let go, and was buried against his body with arms hooked behind his back. The brunet's face was against the crook of his head and he could feel the softness of the hair brushing against his face along with the warm breath tickling his skin. A shiver ran down his spine at the tickling sensation it brought. Reborn could feel the blood rushing up to his cheeks, familiar with this position since sometimes in the morning they would still wake up together all tangled up like lovers. It was hard sometimes to get out of the other's grasp, but it was always worthwhile. It was these small moments that Reborn enjoyed the most.

"Tsuna?" Reborn wanted to move, but resisted, curious as to why Tsuna would suddenly tackle him like that. Though it wasn't rare for the brunet to do such things, this wasn't exactly the moment for it. Slowly, his hands reached up to grasp the brunet's hair, stroking it softly as if trying to comfort the teen and nudged himself closer. "Hey…"

"Reborn…" The older man perked up slightly at that, listening intently for the words. He wanted to know what was wrong after all. "I…love you."

"Eh?" The raven, for a moment, thought he had been hearing things. He repeated the words within his mind, trying to make sure that what he had heard was really the truth. It couldn't be right, it couldn't. But the words were still there, echoing within his mind. Had Tsuna just…confessed? "Say that again."

The brunet shuffled in the grasp, lifting himself up slightly with his elbows to get a better look at the other. Redness dusted his cheeks and nervousness was visible on his expression. "I…love you."

Reborn continued to stare, looking deep into those honey-colored eyes to ensure himself that the other wasn't lying. But there was nothing to give him away, it was just pure honesty and…love mixed within those orbs. Shifting around, he let his fingers drift into the hair, grabbing a tight hold of the soft brown locks before slamming their lips together. It was a messy first kiss between them, but Reborn didn't care, he didn't care at all, and wanted to taste Tsuna to make sure that this was all real to him. He was afraid that this was all a delusional dream and he would wake up at any moment to find himself in bed with Tsuna next to him.

But he didn't wake up, he didn't find out that this was all a dream. It was all real. Reborn could feel the warmth of those lips against his mouth, moving with him, and fingers gliding up into his own hair for leverage to deepen it. Soon their mouths opened and tongues tangled delightfully, never missing, each searching more of that delicious warmth they desperately needed. Their bodies grinded together heatedly, searching, feeling, _wanting_. Neither gave up on their quest, mouths attached as soft smacking sounds filled the room.

Hands drifted from the hair to the clothes, Tsuna's jacket coming off first then Reborn's with his undershirt unbuttoned. Small hands were sprayed across Reborn's chest, Tsuna desiring more of that heat. A moan slipped from the back of the raven's throat and he broke the kiss momentarily to go for Tsuna's neck, driving kisses up and down that curve. Using his superior strength, he flipped their bodies over, grinding Tsuna into the carpeted floor and listened to every gasp happily. A shiver ran down his spine at it, the sensation of desire burning within his chest. He wanted to hear more of that voice, more of those delightful whispers of his name, more of everything. Reborn wanted to claim Tsuna as his own, where no one would be allowed to have the brunet, only him.

"Tsuna, I want you." The raven continued his kisses up until he reached the ears and bit down on the lower lobe, pulling down. He trembled happily when he heard a wonderful moan and fingers crawling down his chest. At this rate, he was going to lose it from the pleasure he was feeling.

"R-Reborn, we can't do it here…" Tsuna gasped when his crush bit down on his other ear lobe, arching his back into Reborn's body. "A-Anyone could walk in."

The older man managed to pull himself together, remembering that they were in a public setting, and peered down at his watch, carefully taking in the time. They had about two hours before they had to leave. It wouldn't hurt to take an early leave to continue their activities elsewhere, somewhere more private. Reborn growled, lifting Tsuna up onto his feet and grabbed his stuff, dragging the brunet behind him. He was going to get what he wanted and no one was going to stop him. No one.

The brunet chuckled in amusement from behind, wondering how everything was going to go. It was clear that with this, their relationship would change, but Tsuna knew better. Everything would go just right, he knew that deep inside. Smiling to himself, he pressed his body up against his lover and sighed. Looks like his summer break was going to be wonderful this year.


	14. Year Fourteen

Reborn peered over the crowd before him with a small grunt, uninterested in everything around him. It was another birthday party, another cursed party. He detested them deeply since all they liked to do was humiliate him and make him and others do stupid things under the influence of the massive amount of alcohol that was running around. Though he would admit that getting everyone drunk off their asses and taking blackmail was wonderful, but that was the only thing. He was twenty-six now and birthday parties were a thing of the past, they were old and not worth much to one like in the old days. Now parties were just excuses for people to get drunk and get laid.

Reborn sighed, running a hand through his black hair, and smoothed it back. It was hot inside with the number of bodies in one place and the rooms were beginning to retch with the stench of vomit and beer. He had dressed down for the occasion, not in his classic black suit, but in some jeans and a long-sleeve black top. His fedora was nowhere to be seen in its familiar place on his head, left at home for safe keeping, allowing his spiky black hair to be free and stick up like usual.

Still, it was his birthday and someone else's tomorrow. He paused at that mention and smiled to himself as he settled down onto the couch, watching as the partiers continued to go on as if there was no tomorrow. Nana remained in the kitchen, cooking her delicious meals that not even beer could beat, and Fuuta remained by her side to try and help. The raven's arms were folded across his chest and he sent out a glare to anyone that got too close to his spot, sending them scurrying away. He was in no mood to deal with idiots.

Despite the nonsense around him, the smile on his lips didn't leave him as he thought back over the year. He had finally gotten what he wanted after all these years, Tsuna. That had been his only wish each birthday and any other holiday that involved wishes. He wanted Tsuna, his now lover and he got what he desired in the end. And ever since then, life just seemed to be more…exciting. Everything changed from that day, from then on, they were lovers. Of course, they had to hide it from the rest of the world due to their work place, family, and school life on Tsuna's part. They had an eight-year age difference and Tsuna was underage, there wasn't much he could do without it being called statutory rape. Of course, he was certain he could pull a few strings here and there to get away from such charges, but he'd rather not take the risk, especially when he was still rising in the ranks of the company. And so, their relationship was kept secret from everyone, even Nana.

Despite that, the difference of just being lovers changed everything. Tsuna kept coming over more often than before and would just sleep together, nothing else, with Reborn in bed every time. The brunet had even taken over the kitchen and Reborn didn't mind at all, enjoying the chance to watch the other cook, or attempt to. It was cute to watch, especially when Tsuna would wear an apron for him.

So far, no one had found out about their relationship, though he had a funny impression that Giotto and Luce may know due their ever watchful eyes, but whatever. Reborn gave a sneer when a woman tried to come forward and flirt with him, not wanting to bother with such things today. He had better things to do after all. His eyes trailed over the place, wondering where Tsuna had disappeared to, but no matter where in the crowd he looked through, there was no brunet, or that spiky hair was recognizable among any gathering.

'Tomorrow is his birthday though. Damn, don't tell me everyone forgot again.' Getting up from his spot, he searched through the first floor of the house before making his way up the stairs. He ignored the stares that were directed his way and reached a familiar door, knocking on it first before opening. Inside, he spotted the one person he had been looking for settled on the floor, looking a little tired, and watched as the other yawned for a moment as he peered up curiously. "So this is where you were hiding. Should have expected it."

Tsuna just smiled, sitting up straighter from his position on the floor, and motioned the older man closer. Before him were scattered papers that belonged to multiple colleges and one was standing out among the rest. Reborn smirked, sitting down beside the other, and wrapped a welcoming arm around the brunet, pulling him closer.

"You've already decided?"

Tsuna nodded his head, leaning closer against Reborn, and closed his eyes, relaxing. Presents had already been given out earlier today, mixing together into a blur with everything else. It had been nothing all that noteworthy, but Tsuna had given Reborn a gift card for his favorite coffee place. "Yeah, I don't want to head out too far so this is perfect."

Reborn lifted up the brochure with his free hand, flipping through it with interest. It wasn't the same college he had gone to, but it was still known as a great University. He looked at the address and smirked. "I take it that you have every plan to move in with me, don't you?"

"Definitely. I'm your lover and anyway, someone needs to keep you company. That place is far too big for just one person."

The older man just grinned, not bothered by the idea at all. He had every intention of making Tsuna move in with him, like hell he was going to let Tsuna live anywhere else but his place. He gave a light kiss onto the forehead, feeling the brunet rub up against him happily. And anyway, he'd always felt his condo was more welcoming with Tsuna around. It would be too lonely without him, not that he would ever say that out loud. Still, to think their relationship would progress this far. Regardless, Reborn was incredibly happy with how things are currently at and didn't want anything to disturb their peace and happiness. He would literally kill anyone who dared to do so. Tsuna was his after all.

"Tsuna," Reborn called out, tightening his hold on the brunet, giving just a small enough smile for the other to see. "Do you want to do what we did all those years ago?"

Tsuna blinked, peering up curiously, and then tilted his head. "Did?"

"Do you want to skip this not-very-interesting birthday party and celebrate on our own?"

There was a momentary pause on the brunet's side as he thought out those words before rapidly nodding his head. He wanted nothing more than to do that. As much as he didn't mind spending his birthday with his family and friends, they always had a tendency to forget it and instead celebrate Reborn's. It was an honest mistake and they would celebrate the two together when they finally remembered. Only Reborn made sure to make an individual setting just for Tsuna, just for the two of them.

Reborn smirked at the agreement and stood up from his spot, heading towards the window at Tsuna's room. "Then let's make our escape," He opened it up, feeling a breeze slip in before turning around to face his lover, holding out his hand. "Let's go."

Tsuna stared at the outstretched with his large eyes, despite him about to turn eighteen he still had them, and slowly stood up. His feet began to move automatically and his own hand grabbed a hold of the other's, squeezing tightly. He gave a large grin at his lover and felt himself getting pulled out of his own window, onto the side roof. Reborn jumped down first, landing gracefully on the ground, and peered up at the brunet, holding out his arms. The intent was obvious, but it made the brunet feel embarrassed at having the other do such a thing. He was old enough now to do such things without the other needing to worry like that, but it was nice and…kinda sweet. Tsuna sighed, doing as he was instructed, and jumped out. He landed perfectly into Reborn's waiting arms and gave out a small laugh in amusement, swinging his legs back and forth happily. Despite his weight, the older man held him up effortlessly as if nothing was wrong.

"I think we're a little too old to be doing such things."

"We're never too old." Reborn kept a tight grip on his lover, walking with him in his arms with no trouble, and pushed the brunet up higher so that the other could lean against him. He almost shivered when Tsuna's breath brushed against his neck, those lips close to his skin. He would make sure to get some other things out of this trip, but that would be later when he had Tsuna in his arms in bed. He still had a whole night to go through before he could get there. The brunet wrapped his arms around the neck of the older man, closing his eyes momentarily, knowing it was completely safe in his grasp. Reborn would never drop him, not now, and he took a deep breath in of the strong addicting cologne the man would always wear. It was the same one he was used to after all these years, the same one he would always smell whenever they were close enough. Just being close enough to it made him relax instantly.

Reborn shifted through the backyard, heading towards the front since everyone was already inside. It was dark outside, the stars up in the sky shining brightly as they flickered repeatedly in the obscurity. The moon was waxing today, giving off a pale hue over the rest of the world, but was still good enough to leave some luminance over everything. The world was quiet, no sounds of people, of civilization, not even the crickets were chirping. It was perfect.

"What would you like to do?" Reborn whispered, leaning his head against the brown locks. He always enjoyed doing such a thing, the feeling of silk against his skin. "Want to watch a movie? Dinner?"

Tsuna hummed softly to himself, keeping himself still, not wanting to leave the grasp just yet. "I have an idea."

"I'm all ears."

"Let's order dinner to-go and instead bring it back to your apartment. We'll eat on the roof since it would be a shame to not take advantage of this wonderful night," Tsuna opened his eyes momentarily to look up into Reborn's. They were just making their way out the front of the house, entering the streets. Luckily for them, there was no one else out since it was so late into the night. It was almost ten already, the party back at the Sawada house was still going on and they would probably never realize that they were missing two people until later on. Tsuna shifted slightly in the grasp, still not bothered that his lover was carrying him around. "After that, we can lie down somewhere and stay up there or head back down. It'll be up to you on that part."

Reborn almost wanted to laugh in amusement. By the way everything was sounding, Tsuna was trying to romantic, but it seemed to be failing. "And why's that?"

"Because you'll be deciding where we'll be having sex."

There was a slight pause in Reborn's steps and Tsuna just smiled, knowing his words had gained the effect he desired. Still, the older man continued on with walking. "I believe you've been around me too long. You're getting quite cunning, there's no way you could have learned this from anyone else but me."

"I learned from the best," The brunet chuckled loudly and shifted in the grasp slightly so that he could get a better look of the other. "Reborn, guess what?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't have school tomorrow."

"And this would concern me?" Reborn knew Tsuna was thinking of something, it was too clear to him when looking into those honey-colored eyes.

"Well that means I'll be at your mercy all night long and also tomorrow, too." Leaning up, the brunet planted a small quick kiss against a cheek, laughing in delight when he felt Reborn almost skip a step.

The raven peered down at the other curiously with an eyebrow raised and only saw an innocent expression that wasn't very convincing. He chuckled darkly, thoughts on what to do tonight very clear and livid in his mind. Oh, he was going to have so much fun tonight. "You definitely learned this from me. Don't think you'll be able to walk the next few days much less leave the bedroom."

"Don't plan to," Tsuna shifted slightly, getting Reborn to put him down and reached upwards to wrap his arms around the other. He stared straight into those black eyes, a grin on his face. "I'm yours after all."

"And you better know it."

Leaning down, Reborn went for a kiss, smiling into it gently. To think after all these years, from the babysitting to the tutoring to now, he would find the perfect person, the perfect lover. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth against him, and pulled Tsuna closer, never wanting to let go. The un-whispered words of him saying he belonged to Tsuna were as clear as the stars in the sky; it wasn't as if they needed to be spoken when it was too understandable. Reborn chuckled, momentarily pulling their lips apart for a breath before going back in. There was no way he was going to let the other go, never.


End file.
